Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:16

I remember one night in fourth grade when I laid my head down for bedtime. As hard as I tried, my youthful mind wouldn’t let me fall to sleep because an unfinished homework assignment was plaguing my conscience. Eventually, I began to cry and somehow, my dad heard the sound of my tears. He came into the room I shared with my younger brother and asked what was wrong. In my young distress, I confessed all that I was feeling. He told me to come with him into the living room where he put his arm around me and pulled me close as we snuggled up on the couch. I was afraid as I imagined what he might say about my unfinished assignment, but I soon realized that all my fears were unfounded.

He laughed. 

Not in a way that was dismissive of my dilemma, but to communicate to me that I had his mercy and grace in my time of need. “Don’t worry, sometimes these things happen” is what he said. “Tell you what, why don’t I wake you up a little earlier in the morning, and you can try to finish it before you leave for school?” This was not what I was expecting. I was expecting a mad dad to blame me for not finishing the assignment. Instead, he laughed. It was a laugh of mercy and grace. It gave me confidence that I could finish my assignment because I wasn’t worried that punishment was coming. I could draw near because He drew near to me. 

Brothers and sisters, this is an imperfect picture of the grace and mercy of King Jesus, who sits on the most approachable of thrones to give us what we can in confidence know we will receive. Not because we deserve to receive it, but because He who is most deserving releases it to the most undeserving. 

If you’re a human being, and you are, the past year has been filled with moments that you wish you could take back. Whether it was a word that caused relational harm, a careless mistake at work that cost dearly, an impulsive move that damaged you financially, or a year that you all but ignored your relationship with God in favor of other pursuits. Whatever it was, the writer of Hebrews tells us something more important about God than what we know about ourselves, which is that he sits on a throne of grace. This means that instead of being a God who is looking to punish you for another round of screwups, He wants you to come close because the only thing He has for you is mercy and grace. Imagine for a moment that you could bring to Jesus the King whatever it was that caused you to shudder this year, and He doesn’t beckon you to come to His throne as much as He runs to you as you approach and pulls you in close and tells you that everything is going to be ok. Whatever you did is not so big that it falls outside the amount of mercy and grace He has waiting for you. 

Imagine that. 

Or better yet, just believe it. And run to the most approachable throne. 

Reflect

What do you fear when you think about approaching Jesus with all your stuff? List some truths you’ve learned today about the approachability of Jesus.