Tues., 1/28/20 Devotion (Esth. 5:2a)

Today's encouragement comes from Esther 5:2a, which says this:

"And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand." (ESV)

When God sees His church, the bride of Christ, approach the throne of grace, He is pleased to hold out the golden scepter of His love, mercy, and grace. All of this is because Jesus shed His precious blood for His regenerated cove-nant people.

Do we need to approach the throne of God today? Undoubtedly, we do; but let us not come empty-handed. We must bring, in the arms of our faith, the Savior of our souls, the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," (Jn. 1:29)—our Lord Jesus Christ. No other offering will be accepted.

[Puritan quote of the day: "A child of God keeps two books always by him: one to write his sins in, so that he may be humble; the other to write his mer-cies in, so that he may be thankful.” —Thomas Watson, in, "The Godly Man's Picture"]