Monday 22 Jan 2018

January 22: Psalm 51:10-13

Key Verse: Psalm 51:10
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Devotion:
King David saw in himself a sinner. He knew the things he had done wrong and he knew they broke God’s law. That is why the law is there – for us to compare our lives against to see the sin within. David also knew it was not in his power to cleanse that sin from within; the cleansing had to come from a higher authority. Back in those days the cleansing water would dutifully be applied with a hyssop plant. Nowadays Christ's cleansing blood can only be applied through faith.

David knew that because of his sin, he was not worthy to be in God's presence. In other words, he was not worthy to have the Holy Spirit within him. He pleads with God to forgive and hide his sins so he may continue to have the Holy Spirit with him. He knew it was his sin separating him from God and he did not like it.

Today we tend to grow up in families where God is hardly mentioned and where the Holy Spirit can only watch from the outside. We don't like to be told we are sinners because that make us look terrible when we actually don't feel that bad. Admit it, the last few devotions have been hard reading! We may help others and make others happy. We may spend much of our wealth on helping others rather than ourselves. But unless we are willing to give our lives back to God, we will continue to fall very short of God's standards for us.

God wants to be able to forgive us – He would not have sent His Son to die for us if it were not so. He wants to have the Holy Spirit live with us permanently – Christ would not have promised it if it were not so. Our sin is the only thing between us and God. Christ has already bridged that gap – as long as we believe it, He will fill that gap for us so we can again commune with God as Adam did in the beginning. With God covering our sin, we can then show others how we have done it and help them to see their way to God too.

Points to Ponder:
How would you rate your life?

Breaking just one sin means you are still guilty.