Because of Jesus we can walk right up to God. Without Jesus we do not have an access to God. But because Jesus died on the cross and was raised on the third day, we can approach God without hesitation. Quite a gift, isn’t it? Now we can draw near to God and we are more than welcome in his presence.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19-22, NLT)

Why to draw near to God

We have been given this access to God, why then do we not use it more? Why should we draw near to God? Without Jesus’s blood we would not be clean enough to draw near to God. And we would also be without God’s gifts: grace, love, peace, joy, and all the other good things in our lives. We need God to be fully alive and well.

With the words of Charles H. Brent “Peace comes when there is no cloud between us and God. Peace is the consequence of forgiveness, God’s removal of that which obscures His face and so breaks union with Him.” Only Jesus can remove anything and everything between us and God. But now we should boldly draw near to God to enjoy God. There’s nothing better than basking in God’s love and grace.

How to draw near to God

What to do then when we desire to draw near to God? That’s easy. Like William Law has said “Prayer is the nearest approach to God.” We don’t need to do anything but open our heart to God. He can hear our cries no matter how weak they are. We don’t need to fix ourselves before approaching God. He is always delighted to see us. There’s nothing we can do for God to love us any less. He just wants us to draw near to him. Daily, hourly, momentarily. He wants to pour out grace upon grace and love upon love. Let’s receive all God has for us.

 

Gracious God,
Thank you for the gift of salvation.
Jesus did what we could not do.
Thank you for the gift of prayer.
Draw us near to you.
Thank you for the gift of your love and grace.
Pour our grace upon grace, and love upon love.
We need you.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: How often do you draw near to God?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you continually draw near to God and dwell in his presence!

Image courtesy of Mari-Anna Stålnacke.