June 5

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, — Heb 10:19 BSB

Nothing will satisfy a living soul except coming “into the holiest.” Such a soul longs to have communion with God, the holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts. This is not a matter of dealing with a distant or far-off deity—some idol, or a God in whom there is no faith, no hope, no love; a God who neither sees, hears, nor saves. No, this is the God who has made Himself known to the soul, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is with Him that the soul has to do; it is to Him that the soul must come and hold holy communion. The soul feels itself standing before His heart-searching eyes, pouring out petitions into His ever-open ears, appealing to His mercy and pity, craving His compassion, seeking His love, longing for His salvation, and earnestly desiring above all else His presence. Therefore, the soul must enter into the holiest, for that is where God dwells. To come to God is to come into that place.

A man who feels and acts in this way is an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit. He is one of the true circumcision who worship God in spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Others may be satisfied with standing in the courts of the house, admiring the external building, the stained glass windows, the carved pews, or the long aisles. Others may be content with mere lip service in worship. But a living soul presses beyond all of this into the very heart of the sanctuary itself. Just as the high priest, on the Day of Atonement, did not linger with the people in the outer court, nor remain with the priests in the holy place, but pressed on through the thick veil into the Holy of Holies, so too does the saint of God. He does not linger in the outer court with the profane, nor is he content with merely seeing God with a veil between. He presses into the immediate presence of God, where he can see something of His grace, behold something of His glory, feel something of His mercy, and taste something of His power. This desire drives him to press forward into the holiest.