God welcomes us

One of my favorite authors, Pastor Charles Swindoll, turned 90 earlier this month. He has written over 70 books; I have read many of them. I also heard him speak more than 40 years ago when I was a student at the Moody Bible Institute. He is one of the most gifted communicators I ever heard. God used Swindoll’s gifts as a skillful communicator and superb storyteller to help inspire and shape my style of speaking and writing.

I recently picked up my copy of his fine book, “Living Above the Level of Mediocrity.” Skimming the pages, I rediscovered a story I had forgotten. Swindoll wrote about a tour group that visited the home of one of the world’s greatest composers, Ludwig van Beethoven. The tourists were shown into the room where the composer spent many hours composing music on his piano. The tour guide’s voice grew quiet, and he was almost reverent as he told the group, “And here is the master’s instrument.” A woman near the back of the group pushed her way to the front, sat down at the piano and began playing one of Beethoven’s beautiful sonatas, gushing as she played, “I suppose a lot of people love to play this piano.” “The guide placed his hand on hers to stop her as he answered, ‘Well, Ignace Paderewski was here last summer. Several in the group wanted him to play. But he responded, ‘Oh, no… I am not worthy to play the same keyboard as the great Beethoven.’” Since Paderewski, who was one of the greatest pianists of his day, felt he was unworthy to play Beethoven’s piano, the woman certainly should have known better than to impulsively play the piano of the master.

One of the world’s most gifted composers should not have a mediocre musician thoughtlessly play his piano.

Respect and awe are appropriate and are taught in scripture. Solomon once wrote, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…” (Proverbs 1:7, ESV) While God wants our adoration, he also wants us to approach him confidently, “…we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God… This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come 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.” (excerpts from Hebrews 4:14-16, NLT)

It makes sense that we should not approach God lightly but instead be awestruck that we can personally talk to God. We have no right to approach God boldly, but Jesus wants us to come to him that way. The fact that our Lord welcomes our prayers should fill us with awe and gratitude for our incredible God.