“…having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus…” —Hebrews 10:19
“Our ability to approach God is due entirely to
the vicarious, or substitutionary, identification of our Lord with sin. We have
“boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus.” […] We have the idea that there are certain
good and virtuous things in each of us that do not need to be based on the
atonement by the Cross of Christ. … We have to realize that the identification
of Jesus with sin means a radical change of all of our sympathies and
interests. Vicarious intercession means that we deliberately substitute God’s
interests in others for our natural sympathy with them.” – Oswald Chambers, My
Utmost For His Highest
We must never lose sight of who God is. You think, “Oh I know who He is. He is the
……. “ Yet we can become irreverent in our attitude and even references
to God. Have you ever heard someone call
God “the man upstairs”? Normally when I
hear that I assume that the person is not born again, but that is not
necessarily so. When God spoke to Moses
on the mountain …
“When the Lord saw that he had gone over to
look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said,
“Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for
the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God
of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At
this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.” – Exodus 3:4-6
Why take off his sandals? When you are in the presence of the Creator
God, you must stand clean before Him.
Taking off his sandals represented all of the things that Moses had
picked up from a sinful the world. As
Christians, we have access to the Holy of Holies – God’s presence through the
blood of Jesus – the veil was torn. But
that does not mean that we can approach God with sin in our heart .. any way we
want to .. like the relationship is up to us and not God.
Years ago it was customary for people to dress up
in the “Sunday-go-to-meetin’ clothes” when they went to church. It was akin to taking off their shoes in the
presence of God. Today – there is a
casualness on church attire. Shorts and
flipflops are considered acceptable. Having
said that, the issue is not really about the clothes I wear to church, what is on
the outside but my heart – you heart – on the inside. Jesus said
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and
Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but
inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean
the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” –
Matthew 23:25-26
“A person may think their own ways are right,
but the Lord weighs the heart.” – Proverbs 21:2
I want to encourage you to consider how you
approach God. If you are going to talk
with Him – your heart must be clean. You
should have a reverence toward Him.
Moses had to look away because of God’s glory. I have a friend who stands in his bare feet
when he preaches. When I first saw that,
I thought it was a little quirky. But on
reflection, it is actually out of great reverence toward God. A reminder to himself and to those under the
sound of his voice that what he is doing has eternal consequences as he is
fulfilling his God-given purpose. It is a visual statement that he understands
that he has a great responsibility to a holy God and must stand clean before
Him. Something every Christian should be
sensitive to – every day of the week – not just Sunday morning.
Think about it – Pray about it - Believe it –
Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His
Glory Alone
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