Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great Priest over the house of God, 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. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
– Hebrews 10:19-23
Whenever we go against God’s will and plan for our lives, or sin, we instantly grieve the Holy Spirit and feel His disappointment. Sin causes us to feel disconnected. We’ve disappointed God and we know it. We feel horrible at not only disappointing ourselves but with ourselves. It’s during these times that we’re prone to avoid praying and reading our bible. This, by the way, is exactly what the devil hopes will happen. He desires to alienate you from God. Similar to an appliance that needs to be plugged into an electrical outlet to fulfill its purpose, as Christians, we need to be connected to God. The devil wants you to stay disconnected. So, after we have blown it, how do we get back on track?
So, what’s the difference between and a lamb and a pig? The difference is that whereas the pig is content to stay in the mud all day, when a lamb gets into mud it seeks to get out. Jesus, the Great Shepherd, has a staff and its purpose, among other things, is to help sheep out of ditches. This is what He will do for you. Rather than falling backwards, the key is to fall forward into His grace. This is why we can actually go confidently to Jesus and seek His forgiveness and grace. He’ll pull you out of the mud, rinse you off, and you’ll be back in the fold. May we reverently and yet confidently fall forward, not backwards, into the gracious arms of Jesus.
