Wednesday 16 May 2012

Wednesday Reading: Psalm 17:1-3

Key Verse: Psalm 17:1
1  Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.

Devotion:
Already half way through the week and we are still at the beginning of the Psalms – how I would love to bask in them for so much longer, but there is work to be done. If we are sincere about our work for God then we will find out that He is sincere about our relationship with Him! But if we come to Him with hypocrisy and deceit, we will not find what we want to find but rather a Holy Judge! I am sure that we have all had a moment in our lives when we have had to stand up and say that we were the ones that have tried to deceive others in some way, whether on purpose or just trying to hide our own shortcomings. When we turn round and show that we are sincere from our hearts, people start to believe us in what we say and do.

As a youth worker I can always spot the person who is just saying something to please others because you see the difference between their actions and they words. When we are sincere about our love for Christ it shows in what we do and not just in what we say. Children are going to be the first ones to spot the difference between words and actions; or at least that is how we see it. We always seem to forget that God has already seen what is in our hearts and has already known what we were going to do – that is why we need to be brutally honest and open with God!

If we are so sure about our position in life through the works that we do then should we not be willing to say “pass judgement on me” and to accept the judgment that is then passed? If we were ever to think that we could do such a thing then we have not understood the gospel as Christ has given it to us! We have been told many a time through God’s Word that the judgement that we deserve is death because our God is Holy and cannot and will not abide sin. If we then ask for judgement, we are asking for certain demise!

Christ is the one who came forward and gave us a manner in which we could approach God. It is not for what we have done by because of His love and His actions that we are able to do this at all. It is because of His great love for us that we have a way in which our sins can be forgiven, a way in which we can be presented to God the Father, not as sinners, but as forgiven souls. Let us then turn our backs on our earthly ways and lives and turn fully and whole heartedly toward our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ our King!

Points to Ponder:
How often do you try pulling the wool over others eyes?

Are you really fooling anyone but yourself?