Unfailing Love (January 8th)
08/01/21 07:25
I wish I would live with you in view—eyes to your glory, ears for your wisdom, heart for your grace. But I live with me in view—eyes to my kingdom, ears for my opinion, heart captured by my will. I know that I was made for you. I know that hope, meaning, purpose, identity, and my agenda for every day is to be found in you. But I want my own kingdom. I love my own glory. I define my own meaning. I delight in my control. There’s a war that never ends; the battleground is my heart. It’s a moral skirmish between what you have ordained and what I want. So I don’t find pleasure in your glory; I don’t delight in your law. But my heart doesn’t rest. I know there’s a better way. I know that you are God, and I am not. My sin is more than bad behavior, bad choices, or wrong words.
My sin is a violation of the relationship that I was meant to have with you. My sin is an act where I replace you with something I love more. Every wrong thing I do reflects a lack of love for you, and reflects a love of self. Help me to see, to acknowledge, to weep, And say,
“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”
And then, help me to rest in your mercy, in your great compassion, and in your unfailing love even as the war goes on.
My sin is a violation of the relationship that I was meant to have with you. My sin is an act where I replace you with something I love more. Every wrong thing I do reflects a lack of love for you, and reflects a love of self. Help me to see, to acknowledge, to weep, And say,
“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”
And then, help me to rest in your mercy, in your great compassion, and in your unfailing love even as the war goes on.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
(Matt. 22:37)
Contemplate how “sin is an act where I replace you.” How does this definition expand your understanding of sin?
How have you recently been living with yourself “in view” instead of living with God “in view”? Spend some time in prayer, confessing to God and resting in his unfailing love.
For further study and encouragement, read Psalm 51.
Tripp, Paul David (2106-02-07T00:28:15). My Heart Cries Out (Kindle Locations 479-481). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
