A Small Devotional - Hebrews 10:19-20

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is through his flesh,”

-Hebrews 10:19-20

What a wonderful truth the author of Hebrews lays before the Bride of Christ! That we might have the ability to not only simply approach the almighty, holy, magnificent, beautiful, merciful and just God of the ages, but that we have confidence to do so. Oh the power of the blood of Jesus, that it would give sinners such as ourselves not only the right, but the confidence to enter the very presence, the very throne room of Almighty God! This new and living way that has been opened for us, this new, once for all sacrifice, has replaced the endless cycle of bloodshed practiced under the law and opened a way through the curtain - that veil that marked the tabernacle and very presence of God, and that formerly led even the high priests to fear for their lives as they approached the Holy of Holies. Those who belong to the Church of Christ, who are covered by his sacrifice upon the cross, now boldly approach the same throne that those under the law trembled before!

Dear brothers and sisters, do you approach the living God with the same confidence that the author of Hebrews here describes? This confidence that is so different than the usual flippancy and casualness that we so often employ in our prayers and our lives. It is a confidence that echos Isaiah’s humble cry before the Holy God, “Woe is me! For I am lost…” and yet in the very same breath can sing blessings to God just as Peter does, that “according to his great mercy, he has caused me to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ”. Do you bring forward your praise, confession, questions, and requests before God with the confidence that, even though you don’t have the right to be heard - indeed, all you deserve to be cast from the King’s presence - and yet Jesus, the great Lamb of God, by his shed blood and torn flesh says to God the Father, “this one is a child of mine, for I have washed away their sins”. Pray with confidence! Approach our Father with boldness! And live in the confidence that when your life expires and you are in the literal presence of God, that you have a new, greater High Priest that has offered the greatest sacrifice of all, that is, his own blood shed upon the cross for you, and so God the Judge will say to you, “well done, my good and faithful servant”. Christian, live life with the confidence that through Christ, your best days are yet ahead of you.