A friend of mine has a new grandson, and we are blessed to see many pictures of that precious baby. I haven’t seen a single picture of that baby lying by himself in a crib, someone is always holding him (usually sleeping) and sharing their love with him. That’s what God wants to do with us: hold us near Him so that we depend completely on Him. Babies grow up, individuate, and 16 years from now the pictures of this child won’t be of him being held. But our Lord always wants to hold us, and that image in my mind is so precious.

It is even more precious because as I go through my life and make mistakes, sin against Him, become lazy in spending time with Him, even when I completely mess up–He will forgive me if I repent, and He still wants to hold me. If you are a child of God by your faith in Jesus, you are His child eternally. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) 

He knows I will fail and will sin–He knows everything! But I am still His child, and He is making me holy. “For by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Heb. 10:14) As we discussed a couple of days ago, “are being made holy” is present perfect tense that describes an action that began in the past, continues in the present and will continue in the future. Because of what Jesus did on the cross and in His resurrection, I am being made holy, and can, therefore, enter into God’s presence with confidence through my faith.

As we look at this passage, the main exhortation is that we are to draw near to God. “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place [God’s presence] by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great priest [Jesus] over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb. 10:19-22) God wants us to draw near to His throne of grace with confidence in order to find the help we need (Heb. 4:16); He will reward us for our faith in seeking Him (Heb. 11:6); and Jesus is able to save us completely and will intercede with the Father on our behalf (Heb. 7:25).

To draw near to God is to have fellowship with Him, and not settle for a life where we are distant from Him, but instead have a near and present reality with the Father. Drawing near isn’t a physical act, it is where we direct our hearts into the presence of God. Jesus came into the world to make a way for us to come to God without being consumed in our sin by His holiness. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18) We are to draw near to Him zealously “with a sincere heart, in full assurance of faith”, with confidence because Jesus purified us; He completely covered our sin with His blood, and reconciled us to the Father.

God has done astonishing and costly things to draw us near to Him. He sent His Son to suffer, die, and arise from death in victory so that through Him, we may draw near to the Father. The ability to draw near to Him is for our joy and His glory. He does not need us, but He magnifies His mercy by giving us free access to Him through His Son, in spite of our sin–to the one reality that can satisfy us completely and forever. “You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Ps. 16:11)  That’s God’s will for us–that we draw near to Him, so that we will speak like the psalmist, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?” (Ps. 42:2)