Devotion 4: Hearts Sprinkled

"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." Hebrews 10:22

One of my favorite hobbies to do with my father is golfing. We love getting some exercise while also driving a golf cart, eating snacks, and chasing around a little white ball. When it comes to actually playing golf, the whole point of the game is to try to hit the ball into the hole. However, I am not the greatest golfer in the world. My goal is simply to try to hit the ball as close to the hole as I possibly can.

Just as I want to get the golf ball near the hole, Hebrews 10:22 provides instruction for us to "draw near" to God. This means God wants us to get as close to Him as we can. The question that then comes to mind is, “How can we ‘draw near’ to God?” In fact, is that even possible?

The book of Hebrews answers this question, “Yes!” It says that we can draw near to God through faith in God’s one and only Son, Jesus, through His death and resurrection. Ephesians 2:8 reminds us that we are saved "by grace... through faith." This means that Jesus's death and resurrection is an act of grace that we can accept and receive by faith, in what He did for us on the cross. When we accept and receive the grace that God gives us in His one and only Son, Jesus, our hearts are "sprinkled clean from an evil conscience." We are made clean and renewed by Jesus's sacrifice.

In golf, I must practice my swing repeatedly just to have a chance of getting the ball near the hole. However, when it comes to our relationship with God and our struggle with sin, we cannot earn the sprinkling of our hearts required to draw near to Him. Instead, it is through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus that we are saved and able to draw near to God.