Scripture
"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10: 22-23)
Observation
I’m sure I’m not the only one who often sits down for daily devotions with the concerns of the day and the things that are weighing on my heart in mind as I search for hope and direction. If I were honest, I often come with a little bit of an agenda looking for fast answers and quick encouragements, and again, if I were honest, today was no different. As I read through the doom and condemnation of Moab and Damascus in the Old Testament and then the perfect sacrifice of Jesus in the New Testament, my heart wasn’t open to the message because I was laser focused on finding that quick application for my circumstances and these passages seemed too general and basic. I began to get a little frustrated as I re-read each chapter in search of that one nugget of wisdom, and as I did I felt a nudge from God telling me, I’ve missed the entire point. My goal shouldn’t be to find fortune cookie answers but the Living God. It can be so easy to grow calloused to Jesus’ love, Jesus’ sacrifice, and Jesus’ forgiveness. It can be so easy to get too used to hearing about God’s faithfulness, God’s perfect plan, and His love when, truly, that’s the only answer we need, the only hope we should search for, and the only directive that will get us through each day, and that’s what we find in Hebrews 10.
The writer of Hebrews reminds us that the old system of animal sacrifices by a High Priest could never ultimately please God. Blood had to continually be shed, and still they didn’t have complete access to His presence and plans. The writer then goes on to say that in Jesus the Perfect Sacrifice was given, the Perfect Priest established, and now complete forgiveness and complete access to God was granted, THUS the exhortation to draw near to Him! But, the Hebrew audience was a lot like us. They were caught up...caught up with their own issues and laser focused on their own circumstances, and because of that, they were struggling. They were struggling with persecution, struggling with their leaders and government, struggling with economic hardship, struggling with relationships...does this sound familiar? With all of these problems before them they were discouraged and overwhelmed, but these weren’t actually the real problem. You might be thinking, “What do you mean, Justin, because I’m sure they felt like these were real problems, and I sure feel like they’re real problems.” And herein lies the truth God revealed to me today:
The real problem wasn’t the external hardships.
The real problem was them not understanding the importance of drawing near.
They now had complete access to God and were granted the ability to draw near! In drawing near they would experience God’s comfort, in drawing near they would hear His voice, in drawing near they would gain an eternal perspective, and in drawing near He would move on their behalf. Their discouragement caused them to drift...drift from His presence, drift from obedience, and drift from going to church and encouraging other believers, and the answer to the drifting and wavering was to DRAW NEAR. And now this same exhortation is given to us: Draw near and hold unswervingly to your hope, draw near and spur others on, draw near and don’t throw away your confidence knowing that God is faithful to His promises.
Application
Are you searching for answer today? Draw near. Are you caught up and overwhelmed with problems? Draw near. Are you facing a myriad of external hardships? Draw near and experience the faithfulness of God.
Prayer
Jesus, forgive me for often coming to Your Word looking for quick answers instead of You. Forgive me for drifting, for wavering, and for getting caught up in the things of life. Thank You for this reminder that the real problem isn’t the circumstances I’m facing...it’s that I haven’t been drawing near. Please help me to confidently draw near so that I can hold unswervingly to Your hope, so that I can spur others on, and so that I can live in Your confidence because You are faithful. Thank You that You are faithful, Thank You that You are full of grace, and Thank You for Your love. In Your name, Amen!
