Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; (Psalm 51:4) Neither have I obeyed the voice of the LORD my God by walking in his laws, which he has set before me, (Daniel 9:10) though they are holy and righteous and good. (Romans 7:12)
One thing of which I do not often think but should, being consumed with how much I do fail, is how much I offend my Lord without even knowing it! I get so consumed with the things in which I do fail that I'm sure that many things pass by the wayside without my even noticing. “Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults”. (Psalm 19:12)
How foolish, how dangerous, and how is dishonoring to God it is to be so consumed with the few things that I can see in which I fall; and to ignore the many things in which the Word of God tells me in which I soon. Not that I should ignore that which I am aware of. Certainly not! But I need to be aware that there is much more in which I offend. James said: “In many things I stumble…”, (James 3:2) and David proclaimed: “…my iniquities are more than the hairs of my head.” (Psalm 40:12) These passages mean more than that “I just sin a lot”. They mean that there is a wealth of offense within me and in my life of which I am not even aware. They mean that there is sin working and sneaking about in the corners and in the darkness of my life that is an offense to my precious Lord that has yet even to rear its ugly head and to my conscious sight.
I am responsible, as a growing and maturing believer before the Lord, to seek this sin out and, by God's power, to destroy it that I might walk in holiness before Him.
I must also recognize that, as a part of my remaining fleshly nature, my heart keeps its desire to sin alive, ready and willing, in spite of my godly desire to walk righteously before God. “As a well keeps its water fresh, so my heart keeps fresh its evil;” (Jeremiah 6:7) “This has been my way from my youth up, that I have not obeyed your voice.” (Jeremiah 22:21) If this is the truth in one such as Jeremiah, how much more so is it the truth in my life?
As always, Lord, I have nothing left but to cry out for Mercy. And of course, this is a good thing, a very good thing! For this is where Your Law and Your desire was to bring me from the beginning. Thus, “I entreat your favor with all my heart”, (Psalm 119:58) “for in this I labor, that whether I am at home or away, I may please the Lord”. (2 Corinthians 5:9) “Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my pleas for mercy; in your faithfulness answer me”, (Psalm 143:1) and “be near to me whenever I call upon you”; (Deuteronomy 4:7) for “you have never said to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’” (Isaiah 45:19)
O the mystery and the wonder of a God who leads us to the end of ourselves and then shows us mercy! Glory to God!
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