•Friday, December 31, 2010
"Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24 NIV
There's a tremendous humility and bravery that the psalmist displays in this challenge. He gives the Lord permission to search his heart and to look for impurity and wickedness so that he might be led into a more righteous life.
It takes great courage to confront the sin in our lives honestly. We find it easier to rationalize, excuse or ignore it. But there's nothing to be gained from this approach. It builds a wall between us and God that hinders us from living the abundant life Christ died to give us. We can never grow into the person we are meant to be if we are harboring sin in our hearts.
And once it's been acknowledged, rooting out the sin is even harder. We develop patterns of thoughts or behaviors that become integrated into our identity. On our own, we are powerless to overcome them. It's easy to feel hopeless and defeated. And this is one way the enemy maintains his power over us. But through the work of the Holy Spirit, we can conquer even the darkest and most stubborn sin.
It begins with the earnest desire for God to search our hearts and reveal the sin that needs to be dealt with. Then we must sincerelly pursue intimacy with Christ--it's the only way to achieve drastic life changes. As we draw near to our Creator, he can shape us into something new and beautiful.
There's a tremendous humility and bravery that the psalmist displays in this challenge. He gives the Lord permission to search his heart and to look for impurity and wickedness so that he might be led into a more righteous life.
It takes great courage to confront the sin in our lives honestly. We find it easier to rationalize, excuse or ignore it. But there's nothing to be gained from this approach. It builds a wall between us and God that hinders us from living the abundant life Christ died to give us. We can never grow into the person we are meant to be if we are harboring sin in our hearts.
And once it's been acknowledged, rooting out the sin is even harder. We develop patterns of thoughts or behaviors that become integrated into our identity. On our own, we are powerless to overcome them. It's easy to feel hopeless and defeated. And this is one way the enemy maintains his power over us. But through the work of the Holy Spirit, we can conquer even the darkest and most stubborn sin.
It begins with the earnest desire for God to search our hearts and reveal the sin that needs to be dealt with. Then we must sincerelly pursue intimacy with Christ--it's the only way to achieve drastic life changes. As we draw near to our Creator, he can shape us into something new and beautiful.
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