Hebrews 4:11-16 JBP – Let us then be eager to know this rest for ourselves, and let us beware that no one misses it through falling into the same kind of unbelief as those we have mentioned. For the Word that God speaks is alive and active; it cuts more keenly than any two-edged sword: it strikes through to the place where soul and spirit meet, to the innermost intimacies of a man’s being: it exposes the very thoughts and motives of a man’s heart. No creature has any cover from the sight of God; everything lies naked and exposed before the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Seeing that we have a great High Priest who has entered the inmost Heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to our faith. For we have no superhuman High Priest to whom our weaknesses are unintelligible – he himself has shared fully in all our experience of temptation, except that he never sinned. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with fullest confidence, that we may receive mercy for our failures and grace to help in the hour of need.
Observation
“No creature has any cover from the sight of God; everything lies naked and exposed before the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” We forget this! We think there are shameful and sinful motives and thoughts hidden within us that God cannot see and continue unrepentant in those areas either from arrogance or shame. Arrogance misses the mercy and grace because it cannot lay down pride, release control, admit insufficiencies and the need for help; shame misses it because of fear that his/her value is so insignificant and that the offense is too great to be covered by the Cross. Both are foolishness and traps set by the Enemy to keep us from approaching the Throne.
God is no respecter of persons. Salvation (being in Christ) is available to whosoever will come (John 3:16). Nonetheless, all humans are fully known, all humans are welcome at the throne of grace and all who are in Christ will be represented there by Jesus, our High Priest and Advocate. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit stand ready to pour out on us the “mercy for our failures and grace to help in the hour of need” – fully cognizant of our current condition, our past, our rebellions, our arrogance, our shame, our sin. When we sincerely repent and approach the throne, they will embrace us in our failures and helplessness and release us restored and redeemed to wholeness – forever changed by the contact and, hopefully,
- hungry for more and deeper relationship,
- seeking opportunities to bring joy to God’s heart,
- alive with gratitude and love for God’s redemptive sacrifice and
- searching for ways to respond to that love so other’s will have the courage to approach the throne and experience that same embrace.
Impact on Me
Before I gave my life to Jesus, I saw my interior self as a place full of closets with doors that lock. All of my shameful and sinful thoughts, motives, intentions and acts were safely stored and locked away in a closet, unseen and unknown by those around me. When I gave my life to Jesus, He asked me for the keys to all those locked closets so He could clean them out. I was ashamed for Him to see what was inside until this scripture opened my eyes. There was nothing I had locked away that He did not already know and for which He had provided forgiveness and redemption. He died to redeem me from everything of which I was ashamed before I was even born.
I have been to the throne room and found grace, mercy and help in my darkest hours and when I fail. One sure way I find my way there is by soaking in the Word of God. His Word will expose my innermost failures, my hidden faults, my unrepented sin and provide grace to cleanse and restore me. His Word “strikes through to the place where soul and spirit meet, to the innermost intimacies of a man’s being: it exposes the very thoughts and motives of a man’s heart.” I have found that I do not need to be afraid to humble myself before that throne because I stand there in Christ, assured of the reception I will receive.
Prayer
Father God, when we are in Christ we are Your own children, favored in Your sight, able to approach even Your very throne when we fail or are in need, assured that we will receive grace and mercy. I ask You to use that sword of Your Word on me to expose and cut away fear and all the unlovely, unproductive, clanging cymbal distractions of this life. I desire to please You – first, foremost and always. May I be ever more like Christ as He walked this earth – confident and humble, obedient and bold, servant and sacrifice – focused only on fulfilling Your will and purpose no matter what cost to me. In Jesus’ name, make it so.
Pressing On In His Footsteps 