"Now make confession to the Lord,
the God of your fathers,
and do His will."
Ezra 10:11, NIV
I have messed up.
I have sinned against the Lord.
Too often, much too often, I find myself in a place where my mind becomes confused. It is a territory wherein my heart indulges its ungrateful and rebellious bent. It is a twisted place where I am led to disregard the solid truth inherent in celebrating the astounding gifts of Christ's death and resurrection. It is a place where I am lulled to forget that Jesus buried my sins in the grave and granted me new life in His resurrection. It is a place where I am swayed to disremember that the sins remaining in me are really up to me -- I need not sin against the Lord.
This morning, my heart is singularly pricked.
Through the prophet Amos, God's Word sounds an alarm to interrupt my reverie:
"The time is ripe for my people."
Amos 8:2, NIV
It is time.
It is urgent.
It is imminent.
Awaken me, Lord.
Help me to rise up and see the dawn of the Sun of righteousness!
I am invited to obey God right now.
I am beckoned to heed the gracious beauty of obedience.
I am compelled to seize the day and redeem the time given me by God.
Lord, guide me in Your Word.
Open my eyes that I may see Your wonderful truths!
Well, reading through 1 Kings, I stumbled upon a verse that shook me to the core:
"For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord
and had not failed to keep any of the Lord's commands
all the days of his life --
all the days of his life --
except in the case of Uriah the Hittite."
1 Kings 15:5, NIV
Two main questions soon rose to my brain:
- How was it ever possible for a person -- anyone, really -- to have done what was right in God's eyes and to have not failed in keeping God's commands all the days of their life on earth?
- What could have possibly been so alluring to cause such a one to make an exception tainting such a clean record?
The answer for the first question is faith. God deposits a precious faith in the vault of the heart of anyone who believes in Him. So, "Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:6, NIV). It is this God-given faith that causes a believer to please the Father. "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6, NIV).
The second question will take much longer to answer. Suffice it to say that any earthly enticement that causes branches to detach themselves from the Vine of Christ produces the exact opposite of faith. Relying on Scripture, it is evident that the enemies of God -- the devil, the world, and the flesh -- are always seeking to poison the human heart with doubts and uncertainties. This poisonous effect eventually renders a person incapable of pleasing God. In fact, it presents to each person an unavoidable dilemma:
To bow or to burn?
Will you and I bow to the worthless idols that seek to lure us into their web?
Will you and I choose to burn in the fire of righteousness, trusting that the Lord will meet us in the fire?
David chose the fire of confession.
And, oh glory, did the Lord meet him in that fire!
For the next forty-eight days, leading to the commemoration of Pentecost (the coming of the Holy Spirit), I will be reflecting on this servant-leader's confession recorded in Psalm 51. I invite you, friend, to join me in listening in on David's prayerful and vulnerable approach to the throne of grace after blowing it big time.
Lord, like David, enable me to bare my heart before Your mercy, compassion, forgiveness, and unfailing love. Open my eyes, ears, and heart to really see You, hear You, and love You wholly. I know You want my heart, not my sacrifices and rituals. Help me to remember the gifts of Your death and resurrection. "Take my heart, Lord, and seal it for Thy courts above." In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
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