Hebrews 4:16 NLT
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.
Suppose we were invited to meet the Queen - how would we behave? I'm sure many of us have watched people receiving awards and knighthoods on the TV.
No one approaches her boldly.
Everyone seems to come with bowed head, in slightly timid fashion.
Maybe that's why Jesus recommended we come like a little child to the Kingdom of God - before all the doubts of adulthood can assault our faith. A child isn't aware of protocol that prevents intimacy with royalty:
Matthew 18:3
And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
It's a strange paradox that we are faced with in this chapter 4 of Hebrews. On one hand we are exhorted to be afraid [to miss out] in verse 1:
God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it.
However, we are encouraged to approach Jesus, our great High Priest BOLDLY at the end of the chapter:
The amplified Bible puts it this way:
Hebrews 4:16 AMPC
Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favour to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].
My beloved mum's favourite hymn was "What a friend we have in Jesus" and she regularly and boldly took everything to Him in prayer:
May I invite you to click the link, look at the words and sing it with renewed faith and boldly give all your burdens to Him.
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