Our neighbor was startled when two young men walked into her home uninvited. She screamed. Fortunately, they ran. Yet no one would accuse her of failing to be hospitable. When you enter someone's house, you come in on that person's terms.

We often forget that the same principle applies to our entering into the presence of God. This was made clear in the Old Testament "house of symbols" known as the tabernacle (Ex. 25-27). Its construction and the arrangement of the objects within it teach us that we come into God's presence only on His conditions.

Consider, for example, the bronze altar of sacrifice (27:1-8). Bronze in Scripture stands for divine judgment of sin. The slaughtering of sheep and goats on the altar symbolized the results of sin. An unmerciful death for innocent animals pointed forward to a coming substitute, the sinless "Lamb of God." When He died on the cross of Calvary, His sacrifice was more than adequate to atone for the sin of all people (Jn. 1:29).

The only way to approach God is on His terms. We must receive the forgiveness He offers to us through Christ.

Have you accepted Jesus, the Lamb of God, as your Savior from sin?  — Mart De Haan