Sincere and Unswerving Heart!

Hebrews 10: 19

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

I came across this verse again during a course I have been doing and it struck me 'again' to be one of those that's gold verses in the bible! Not only does it sum up a whole heap of theology in a couple of lines, it also provides for us some really great tips for our Christian walk.

So often we wait for God to seem real to us but one of the keys I have found within this little verse is that we are told to draw near to God. I know this is expressed in other places in the bible, but this one really struck me. Not only are we told that we are to draw near, but how we are to do it. Firstly we are to draw near to God with a 'sincere heart'.

In the NIV version above the word sincere, replaced the word true. The original word;

a)lhqino/v or Alethinos means; that which has not only the name and resemblance, but the real nature corresponding to the name, in every respect corresponding to the idea signified by the name, real, true genuine opposite to what is fictitious, counterfeit, imaginary, simulated or pretended it contrasts realities with their semblances opposite to what is imperfect defective, frail, uncertain true, veracious, sincere

This is really quite amazing. The God of the universe, the one who created the heaven's and the earth, who hung the stars in the sky and splashed oceans and rivers across the land wants you to come just as you are, in your true state to Him.

I love how David does this in the Psalms. It has always been of great comfort to me to see the raw reality of David's heart's cries to the Lord. Many years ago I endevoured to learn from David and pour out my heart to God in a similar fashion. And usually in the same vein as David, my time of exposing my sincere and true heart, yes even the ugly side of it, usually ends up with me praising the Lord for His might and power or repenting for the sin the Lord has lit upon in His mercy and grace.

The second key here is that God want's us to approach Him in 'full assurance of

faith'. Where as above He wants us to be real about who WE are, here He requires us to be real about who HE is, and that means putting aside our worldly doubt and disbelief and approach Him in faith. This is much easier to do once we stop measuring God by our own standards. When we take stock of His character and understand the very nature of who he is, in the light of His word (not in the light of our 'true hearts') we start to cast down our own idols of who we THINK God is and start believing in who He REALLY is!

I don't know about you, but sometimes I find it very hard to remember to do this, but it is something that I am relearning how to do. If God say's He will take care of our needs, then He means it, if He say's that He knows the desire's of your heart, then you can trust that. If God tells you that your sins are forgiven and covered under His spilt blood then walk like they have been.

Sometimes though it is far easier to live in our own created images of who God is than to take that leap of faith and actually trust who the word say's He is. God's memory is not short that He forgets the things he tells us, His hands are not too busy that He can not hold us in them and His heart is not too small that He hasn't got you beating with in.

The third key I learn't his morning is that if we are truly children of God, we are told to also hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Christianity is not a passive faith at all. Reading through the pages of scripture we are often told to do things that require action on our part, and this scripture is no different. Here we are told to hold undswervingly to our hope in Christ who is faithful.

http://www.dictionary.com/ list's unswervingly with the following definitions;

un·swerv·ing (ŭn-swûr'vĭng) adj.

• Not veering or turning aside: "a path . . . so straight and unswerving" (Mary Wilkins Freeman).
  
• constant; steady: unswerving allegiance; unswerving devotion.

We are to remain constant in our hope, devoted, steady, never losing hope, not turning aside but looking into the eyes of Jesus we are to are not to give up, give in, or give out. Why? Because He PROMISES to be FAITHFUL!!!

So next time we begin to look away and we start to veer off the path that God has for us, let us hark back to this verse and encourage each other to hold fast to God, be sincere in heart and trust, and live with full assurance that God promises to be faithful to us, and that is some promise!

Hallelujah!!!