Draw near to Me and I will cleanse you from an evil conscience.

Hebrews 10:22 New International Version (NIV)

22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

An evil conscience is a guilty conscience. When we feel guilty, we feel shame. When we feel shame, we want to run and hide from God just like Adam and Eve did. Today's promise is an invitation from our Heavenly Father to come close to Him and He will cleanse us from the guilt that we struggle with and wash our bodies with pure water.

It takes real faith to believe that we are forgiven for all our sins. In the Christian life we sometimes act as if Jesus forgave our sin when we first became Christians but then it was our responsibility to keep from sinning from that point on. When we fall, we feel guilty and ashamed, and that sense of guilt keeps us from coming into the presence of God.

The truth is that it is God's heart to cleanse us from a guilty conscience so that we could truly draw near to Him without shame or condemnation. The shed blood of Jesus is the once and for all sacrifice for our past, present and future sins. There is nothing that we can do to add to what Jesus has already done. When He cried "It is finished!" on the cross, He meant it. 

I pray that each one of us would receive the sprinkling of hearts from a guilty conscience today so that we can draw near to God so that He can draw near to us.