I have found in my own battle against sin that when I slip or fall I feel fear. It is the knee jerk reaction that comes from the reality that when we did something bad as children our parents got angry, yelled at us and in some cases spanked us. Shame also enters in as we might have been shamed by our parents about our disobedience or even shamed by our church about unacceptable behavior.
Shame and fear love to tell us it is time to go into hiding and we isolate. Some never come out of that hiding and live entire lives posing to be someone they are not.
That is why I love this verse and it is seriously worthy of meditation from Hebrews 4:14-16;
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
We have in Jesus someone who understands what it is like to be tempted. Now when it says that He was tempted in every way, just as we are tempted in every way that does not mean that He was tempted with every temptation He could face. It means that Jesus was tempted in every way possible for Him to be tempted just as we are tempted in every way we can be tempted. Obviously, Jesus was never tempted to cheat on His wife since He did not have one.
However, the important thought is this … Jesus is able to empathize with us when we are being tempted. He relates to us in that moment of temptation when the voice of the Spirit is growing quieter and softer as the voice of lust and sin grows louder and more prominent.
It is like we are fading away from God and being drawn towards sin. And if that sin is one we have gone to many times, the pull to get us to act out can be less and less. Just a thought, idea or image can suck us in like an ant into my Ridgid 3.0 horsepower shop vac who does not know where he is going and will not like where he lands.
We want to hide and isolate but look at what this verse tells us to do.
“… approach God’s throne of Grace with CONFIDENCE …”
Seems like a strange idea, doesn’t it? I mean I know what would have happened if after wrecking my dad’s car that I would have walked up to him with boldness and confidence. He would have thought I was being a cocky and insulant teenager and we would have had two problems to deal with.
The writer in Hebrews tells us to come with God’s throne of GRACE with confidence so that we might RECEIVE MERCY and FIND GRACE TO HELP US in our time of need. He is not talking about us going to church in our Sunday best and pretend everything is ok. He knows it is not and you know it is not and it is in that moment when shame and fear are shouting at you to run away and hide that we need to “with confidence” come to His Throne of Grace.
That is where we find mercy and grace to help us in our time of need.
Wow, thank you Lord, that is powerful stuff!!!
