the first room system

"The priests went in and out of the first room regularly as they performed their religious duties. But only the high priest goes into the Most Holy Place, and only once a year, and always with blood, which he offers to God to cover his own sins and the sins the people have committed in ignorance. By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the Most Holy Place was not open to the people as long as the first room and the entire system it represents were still in use. Hebrews 9:8

I have spent a large portion of my life going in and out of the first room, so to speak--performing my religious duties. All the stuff that is done because that's what others expect of me...all the outward motions. Pray before you eat, dress nicely when you go to church, don't cuss, don't drink alcohol (especially when anyone can see you doing it), no smoking, no dirty jokes, no strange piercings (strange may vary depending on who is making the rules), no tattoos (or at least not a big one and not one that is visible when you're clothed), sing when everyone else does, stand up and sit down when you're told to, be patient, be kind, I could go on and on for hours if I wanted to. Every once in a while (usually during the music at church) I would enter the Most Holy Place. I would for a brief time--before the Pastor said, "God bless you, you may be seated"--let it all go. The only thing that mattered would be me and Him face to face. All appearances disappeared.

Now, I know I say this a lot, but it just blows me away when I read a verse in the Bible a million times and never catch the meaning of it. Well, Hebrews 9:8 did that to me yesterday. I was looking up verses to respond to a post (about tattoos) from my blogging buddy, Joash, and I came across this one. Here, read it again, "By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the Most Holy Place was not open to the people as long as the first room and the entire system it represents were still in use."

As long as I am living by the "first room system", the Most Holy Place is not open to me. If I am concerned about the outward appearances of what I do and following all of the rules correctly, then that is where I will remain, on the outside. But if I do what Hebrews 10:19-22 says and bust through the first room boldly passing through it, the Most Holy Place is mine.

"And so, dear friends, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. This is the new, life-giving way that Christ has opened up for us through the sacred curtain, by means of his death for us. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God's people, let us go right into the presence of God, with true hearts fully trusting him. For our evil consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water." Hebrews 10:19-22

And don't expect the people who are running in and out of the first room to cheer you on. How would you feel if you thought you were inching your way towards the Most Holy Place and someone blows past you breaking all of the rules and walks right into the place you've been trying so hard to "work towards"?

I wonder...if all faith is, is acting like it's true. If we believe that Jesus took care of the outward and removed our evil consciences, then we should act like it's true. We should spend our time and energy not running in and out of the first room but busting through it and into the Most Holy Place. Stop running the rat race of appearances. Live life for the Most Holy Place. Live life for that face to face intimacy with God. There is nothing else.