Hebrews 10:19, 22
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest
by the blood of Jesus ... 22let us draw near ...
.
These verses call us to boldly draw near to His presence.
This may appear to contradict the implications of His presence
being universal and His Holy Spirit dwelling in us, so let's
examine this admonition to "draw near" from two perspectives:
our perspective and God's perspective.
Our Perspective: Our drawing near to God
comes from our hearts' desire for more intimacy with the Creator
of the universe; an intimacy much deeper than His cosmic presence
gives and more intimate than even His indwelling presence provides.
It is an intimacy not unlike a bride’s desire for her
bridegroom’s embrace, or a child’s longing to be
held by his or her father.
God's Perspective: God longs to dwell with
us in the sweet fellowship that was lost in the Garden because
of sin. Now, since Jesus died to pay the price for sin, the
Father is ever bidding, ever inviting humanity back into companionship,
to dwell and commune forever with Him. He desires to be intimate—friends
or lovers, if you will—with those whom He created and
deeply loves.
Not to belabor the issue, but to reiterate it because of its
profound implications, we can enter into God’s glorious
presence with a “humble boldness” because of what
Jesus accomplished for us.
We may sometimes think of God as a taskmaster with a list of
‘chores’ for us to do. In reality, His heart beats
with both a love for us and a desire to fellowship with us.
Jesus issued an invitation in Revelation 3:20: “Look!
Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and
open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends”
(New Living Translation).
As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, I will not
be dealing in depth with all the practicalities of pursuing
God's presence. However, I feel I would be amiss at this point
not to present at least a few personal examples.
One example is my spending quiet time before the Lord, inviting
Him to "hang out" with me. I have found this practice
extremely beneficial, particularly on cold, wintry mornings,
lying face down near the fireplace. As the warmth of the logs
permeates my body, the warmth of God's presence penetrates my
heart, and I simply find myself basking in His love.
A second example is when I allow the Holy Spirit to lead me
in what Scripture passages to meditate on. I try to follow a
yearly Bible reading regimen, but I have the most blessed times
thumbing through the Scriptures, waiting for the Spirit's guiding,
and listening to His instruction. What a beautiful way to learn
about God—being taught by Him!
Moving on in our study, we find in the following Psalm a writer
articulating a strong desire to be where God was:
Psalm 84:2, 5
2My soul longs, yes, even faints
For the courts of the LORD;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
5Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
The psalmist’s longing for God drove him to make the
pilgrimage from his perhaps distant home to Zion—the place
where God's manifest presence dwelt. This pilgrimage of many
was not like a short car ride to a local revival meeting. In
some cases, it was an arduous trek through a wilderness that
required persistence and determination to complete. The psalmist's
hunger for God’s presence fueled him with "strength"
in the quest to find the presence of God at the end of his destination—always
trusting that when he arrived, God would be there.
May our hearts cry out for God's fellowship to such a degree
that we will not rest until our pilgrimage finds us in the place
of His presence! God is bidding us to "draw near"
so that He may touch us with His glory, His awesome grandeur,
and His everlasting love. Oh, that our hearts would be reciprocal
in our yearning to touch God! Why not invite Him to spend some
time with you today?
As we seek His presence in deeper and more intense ways, we
will need to employ the next step of being
more alert.
Copyright © 2005 by Frank A. DeCenso Jr. All Scripture
references are NKJV unless otherwise noted.
A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.