Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest, is enthroned in heaven. He is also ministering mercy and grace to those who come for help. Mercy means that God does not give us what we deserve; grace means that He gives us what we do not deserve.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we can run to our High Priest at any time, in any circumstance, and find the help we need. Not only that, but we can come boldly into the presence of God. No trial is too great, no temptation is too strong, but that Christ can give us the mercy and grace that we need, when we need it.

“But He is so far away!” we may argue. “And He is the perfect Son of God! What can He know about the problems of weak sinners like us?”

But that is a part of His greatness! When He was ministering on earth in a human body, He experienced all that we experience, and even more, yet He did not sin.

If we fail to hold fast our confession, we are not proving that Jesus Christ has failed. We are only telling the world that we failed to draw on His grace and mercy when it was freely available to us.

Verse for today: “The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion” (Numbers 14:18, NIV).

More from God’s Word: Psalms 57:1-7; 106:1; 2 Chronicles 5:13; Romans 9:15-18; 12:1; Ephesians 2:4-5; James 2:12-13.

Action assignment: Using the definitions of mercy and grace listed in this entry, give three ways God has shown mercy and grace to you. For example, “I was speeding in my car, but I didn’t get caught” could go under mercy (and foolhardiness too!). Thank God for His mercy and grace, and ask His forgiveness for those times when you should have been “caught” but weren’t.

Warren W. Wiersbe
www.backtothebible.in