Friday, March 22, 2013

FRIDAY, FIFTH WEEK IN LENT - 2013

Scripture:
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Psalm 51:11,12

Reflection:
Again we are reminded of one of our Lenten themes, that of repentance. When we examine our hearts and find things that shouldn't be there, we go to God and confess our sins to him. When we do this, we can have the assurance that he hears us and forgives us. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) His forgiveness toward us is sure because of Christ's sacrifice on our behalf.

Then, after being forgiven, we should ask for a clean heart, for all sin begins in a heart that is unclean. The cleaner our hearts, the fewer our sins. We often try to clean up the outside first. We don't do this, or we don't do that, which is okay if we are walking in obedience and are trying to please the Lord, but it does little to purify the heart. The Lord's way is to work from the inside out. As we submit our wills to him, he goes to work cleansing our hearts. When our hearts are clean, all that outward obedience comes so much easier and is just the natural result of staying close to the Lord. Unclean hearts prevent us from staying close to him. It is like we have been cast away from his presence and he has removed his Holy Spirit from us. That is a place we never want to be.

Prayer:
(Today we simply make the words of our Scripture reading our prayer.)
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Amen.

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