By Minister Nallely Dickson
(Hebrews 4:16, New Living Translation)
So let us come (proserchomai) boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
(Hebrews 4:16, NASB 1995)
Therefore let us draw near (proserchomai) with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
We are going to expand on the Greek just a bit. It will provide us with a deeper understanding of the verse for our meditation.
- Proserchomai is a compound verb (pros + erchomai).
- Pros literally means moving toward a goal or destination.
- Erchomai means to come or go.
- The combined meaning behind proserchomai is moving toward a goal or coming to our destination.
Now Greek is a complex language. I don’t know why people back then didn’t like to keep it simple like us in modern times. Nevertheless, the Greek language has something called the voices. It’s not what we watch on t.v. The Greek verb has three voices: the active, middle and passive voice. Proserchomai is the middle voice, where “the subject is both an agent of an action and somehow concerned with the action.”
In our coming (proserchomai) to the throne of grace, we are not acting alone — we are both doing the action and being acted upon.
In the same way Jesus is inviting us to become agents of change — through His work in us and our action. One example was when Jesus said to His disciples, “be the Light of the World.” On this occasion, I will ask you to be the Seed of the World. Now you will not be a simple seed but a Coffee seed. According to the National Coffee Association, there are ten steps from Coffee to Cup. Tonight we are going to use the last two steps: GRINDING & BREWING COFFEE!
Many of us enjoy the final product but not the process of the coffee beans. The coffee beans are super hard. For this reason, we must grind the beans to brew our delicious coffee. However, we prefer to visit our barista to experience personalized service, and the fresh smell of coffee bean’s aroma. This is a great place where we can relax our minds and have free wi-fi. In fact, today we want the expresso life with instantaneous results — no process, at all.
We want our coffee now!
We don’t want to be grinding any coffee beans.
We don’t like to wait! The brewing process is too long.
We want a unique aroma here and now!
We want the irresistible taste!
We want to grab and go!
Why are we so attracted ? Why is it so irresistible? According to the Queensland health website, coffee provides a buzz up! It’s because caffeine makes us feel more energized. It would be awesome if we have the same experience in our spiritual life. King David expresses a similar outcome in Psalm 19:14. “May the words of my Mouth and the Meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer!” David understood the spiritual grinding process for entering the Throne of Grace.
In the same way, we as Christians must be inside the spiritual grinder, which is the Word of God. We must invite God’s Word to our inner being. As David knew that his mouth was a big concern when approaching God’s throne of Grace. David knew that outside the spiritual grinder — the Word of God — he might have used his mouth as a destructive tool.
David knew that outside the spiritual grinder, his mouth hurt others!
David knew that outside the spiritual grinder, his mouth betrayed others!
David knew that outside the spiritual grinder, his mouth seduced others to do wrong!
David knew that outside the spiritual grinder, his mouth manipulated others!
David knew that outside the spiritual grinder, his words smelled disgusting, noxious, and stinking.
What about us? Can we share our inner secrets with God? Do we take time to reflect on what our mouth does outside the spiritual grinder? Jesus indeed paid the price already for us to have that special connection with God. Many of us live in La Vida Loca. We assume that we don’t have any accountability after we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior!
In reality, the Holy Spirit is the Agent that helps us surrender our self and enter completely into the grinder. The Holy Spirit can guide and teach us that Jesus not only paid the price for us, but also came from heaven and experienced this broken world. Jesus understands our fallen humanity. Jesus gets it when we want to do the right thing, but our nature does the opposite.
Jesus can empathize with us. We are not alone in these processes. We can welcome Jesus here and now. Ask Jesus to come… When there is no Hope. When tears go down our cheeks. Invite Jesus… to become our friend when the journey is lonely. Engage with Jesus… through the grinder of His Word. Jesus is here for us! We will not be alone in the grinder. Jesus wants us to be His church, not just to come to church.
No matter where we are, our actions as Christ’s disciples must speak louder than our words. People in the church, family, and work may only encounter Jesus by knowing us. Let us take action and approach God’s throne of grace by stepping into the grinder where Jesus becomes alive in us.