Approach!

Approach!

Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16 NRSV

Paul charges us to approach God's throne with boldness. That boldness is founded on something outside of ourselves; it is founded on the finished work of Christ on the cross. Those who will approach must take that step in that consciousness, sure that they will get attention. It is a throne because it is a place of authority; where the One who sits on it speaks and every other person or thing is silent. It is a place of kingship and Lordship, above which no other power or authority can or does exist. I am asked to approach that throne with boldness because at that throne, guilt, condemnation and perdition are dealt final blows and life is released, full and free to me. Will I then make the approach?

What do I gain from the approach? Today's extract says I receive mercy and find grace. Do they not mean the same thing? Well, it would appear that the first and only reason why I can even make the approach is because of mercy. Without it, sin would have destroyed me. Mercy enables me approach, cleanses me from sin and grace enables me work and walk in that new life I have received, so I do not again go back to the life I had before I made the approach. I get the clear message that only in God do I find both; the world has no answer because it does not have it.

And the need for that mercy and grace will continually exist. It is not a one size fits all dispensation; it is daily and regular dosage. At no time do I grow out of that need; at no time do I become sufficiently capable of standing up for myself. I fight with the strength of the One who understands what is at stake, and I fight an enemy who has been doing this long before I was born. My skill or ability make no sense here; the grace and mercy of God are the only things that matter. Daily, I need God's help, and as long as I depend on Him, he will keep up the supply, until I come home. May God's grace continue to be available for us all, as we run the race and fight the good fight He has called us to. His time of favour is here.