Go Boldly

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. ~ Hebrews 4:16 (NLT)

When I was younger, I remember many teachers giving me some conflicting information. (I’m sure this never happens at other schools!) On one hand, they would teach me that Jesus was this amazing, loving, forgiving, and wonderful friend that I could go to about anything and He’d always greet me with a smile and a hug. On the other hand, I heard about a God who must be feared, and that we should remember that He has the power to destroy us if we do something wrong in His eyes. So, essentially, the teaching showed me that God was gracious and loving until you did something that ticked Him off. Then, He turned into a monster whose joy in life was to destroy people. Let me be clear. This is an incorrect, unbiblical view of God.

Instead, what we have is a God that is amazing, loving, forgiving, and wonderful. We do have a God with the power to destroy. But, He doesn’t. We have a very long-suffering God. If He exercised His divine right to kill those who broke His laws, we would all have been wiped out within the first couple of years of life. In fact, I would argue that the human race would have literally died out after Adam and Eve took a bite of the fruit in the Garden of Eden. God shows us grace every day of our lives. Though He doesn’t like the sin, He loves the sinner more.

As a result, we have this wonderful reminder in our verse today: “Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.” I love that word, “boldly.” In other words, we should have no fear, no trembling, no anxiety when we approach the King of Kings. We should know that He desires for us to come and visit with Him as often as we can. We should never hesitate to call upon the name of Jesus. He never sends anyone away. How do I know that? Well, my own experience shows me that the second half of the verse is a guarantee: “There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” Don’t buy into the lie that we are ever too dirty, too sinful, too anything to approach Jesus. All of humanity is given the privilege to enter His presence. Everyone may have an audience with the King. We need not fear rejection or condemnation. In the throne room of God, we find mercy and grace, born out of His infinite love for you and me.