SIN, REPENTANCE, AND A
CLEAN HEART
I let myself get
emotionally distraught by the way someone was acting, and what did I do about
it? The wrong thing! I started bad-mouthing the person in my mind, and then it
came out of my mouth. By the end of the day, I realized I’d really messed up.
But then the Lord reminded me of the times people had said about me that I had
a pure heart. Being emotionally mean and having a pure heart just don’t go
together. So I repented. I was totally carnal in how I reacted. You know how
certain things people do really set you off, and sometimes you just don’t even
know exactly why? Well, that was me. I was mad and didn’t even bother to ask
myself why I was so riled up.
Maybe it was because I was
reacting to something in myself I didn’t like? That’s often the case. We see
something we dislike about ourselves in someone else, and we react to them
because it’s easier than taking the time to examine the same thing in
ourselves! But the Lord constantly gives us opportunities to change lingering
sins from the past and become the new creation in Christ that He’s called us to
be.
And by the way, we have at
least one angel or two, from the time of our birth, to help us to get to our
final destinies. In Matthew 18:10, Jesus tells us: “Take heed that ye despise
not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven
their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.’”
Angels minister to us as children, and the Bible never says they’re taken away.
Think about that for a minute.
Back to my story. I felt
bad about being so weak as to let my emotions get to me, and God urged me to go
back in my mind to a time when I was around 15 years old, reading the Beatitudes
in the Bible. I read Jesus teaching his disciples, saying:
“3Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are they that
mourn: for they shall be comforted. 5Blessed are the meek:
for they shall inherit the earth. 6Blessed are they which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 7Blessed are the
merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall
see God” (Matt 5:3-8).
I remember thinking, “I
want to be blessed,” and then asking, “Which of these do I want the most?”
Verse 8 rushed into my heart. I wanted to see God more than anything, so I
wanted to have a pure heart.
So, when I was awful last
week, and God reminded me of my desire from so many years ago, I went to Psalm
51. Many of the times when I don’t act in a Godly way, the Lord has taken me to
these passages that David wrote after his sin of coveting Bathsheba and
purposely setting up her husband to be killed.
Psalm 51:
“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness:
according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash
me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For
I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
“Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and
done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when
thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in
iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
“Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the
hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop,
and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear
joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may
rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities” (vv.
1-9).
The next verse is the one
that, for me, speaks louder than all the rest: “Create in me a clean
heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (v.10).
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a
broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (v.17).
The shepherd David, who
became the King of Israel, had a heart of repentance. He trusted what he
learned about God, which was that God would not only forgive him, but create a
clean heart in him, renew a right spirit within him, and make him strong again.
We have the same privilege from the same God who cares for us.
Love, Carolyn
I HAVE A VARIETY OF BOOKS
AND BOOKLETS ON CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN LIVING. I KNOW YOU CAN FIND SOMETHING
THAT WILL RESONATE WITH YOUR LIFE AND HEART DURING THESE CHALLENGING TIMES.
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