Monday, January 16, 2023

 

Monday, January 16, 2023


Psalm 38

Genesis 6

John 7:37-52


Make haste to help, O Lord, my salvation.


As children of God, confessing and clinging to the name of the Lord Jesus, we find ourselves in this life with a big target painted on our back. The devil is prowling like a lion, laying traps for us, looking to devour us with schemes and plans cunning yet entirely unoriginal. We are enemies of the world, who will not bow down to secular authorities, or common fashions and trends, or participate in gossip or scandal, entirely bereft of a tribe to belong to. Even our own flesh fights against us: we are wandering around our soul like a gardener in his plot, finding weeds constantly growing and needing to be ripped out as they appear and thrown in the bin.


It is not wonder we often stumble, but of those who deserve pity, he who deserves pity the least is he who is receiving the consequences of his own actions. God has given us more than enough instruction and graceful support to be able to live the good life. What foundation do we have to stand on to be able to approach God when we say, along with the Psalmist, “my wounds grow and fester because of my foolishness”?


That foundation does not have to a be a general “feeling” of God’s love. Certainly, that is the assurance of the Holy Spirit warming our heart, but sometimes, the coldness when sin surrounds us and puts our spirit under siege makes that warmth very distant. Cutting through this darkness is a cold, hard fact.


The Lord Jesus actually did something to prove how much He loves us. He became human, and was tempted in every way as we are, yet He did not sin. Because of His sinless nature, He was able to go to the cross and die in the place of every one of us. Three days later, He rose from the dead, proving that through His death, sins were forgiven.


The resurrection of the Lord Jesus is absolute, undeniable proof of God’s love for us, and proves specifically Jesus’ heart of love. He is now at the right hand of the Father, His blessed heart aching for ours, burdened as they are under the sin and weight of this world.


It is for you, O Lord Jesus, that I wait; it is you, O Lord Jesus my God, who will answer.

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