Good Morning to All,
Psalm
51:10; “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
It is the little things in life; how often do
we say this or think this? Oh the little
things that mean so much. I think for
most of us this is very true. A hot cup
of coffee on a cold day can go a long way to a content heart. The gentle voice of your spouse as you sit
and listen to some music. Listening to
your children or grandchildren as they are sleeping. Watching them read a book or playing a
game. The quiet times with friends can make
life enjoyable and truly fun. The little
things in life are wonderful.
Yet sometimes, it is the little things in
life that cause us the most pain and problems.
The problem is that we all have those little sins in our life. They are just little ones, nothing
major. Just small, nagging little
sins. Most of us have not really
committed what we would consider “big sins”.
We have never murdered someone; we have never actually committed
adultery. We have never stolen anything
of any real value but we have those nagging little sins.
Sometimes, we don’t even think of them as
sins. We call them “peccadilloes”; or “character
flaws; or “idiosyncrasies” but we never call them sins. We have never committed murder but there are
some people who we would like to move away, or some such problems beset
them. We make cruel and snide remarks
but it is “just what I was told”. We
love the “good and juicy” gossip. We
still claim that we have no other gods before God but sometimes God just doesn’t
fit into our busy schedule. We have
never committed adultery but a little looking and fantasizing is “natural” isn’t
it? And so we let off a little steam
when we are with our friends and complain about our spouse to them, we all need
a release don’t we?
Those little sins are so hard to let go
of, aren’t they? We like to hold them
because we think they give us power and we think they don’t really matter in
the greater scheme of things. We may
rationalize all of our actions, all of our little ways but the bottom line is
that they are still sins. They are sins
and sins are what separate us from God.
Sin is what breaks our relationship with God. Sin is what pollutes us and makes us unworthy
of being in God’s presence.
That is why David wrote this verse so many
years ago. As he looked at his life, he
saw where he was at. God had revealed to
him the pain he was causing, to himself, to others and to how his relationship
with God was broken. David had lied,
committed adultery and murder. The pain
and the agony of it came home to roost for him and he suffered for it. Just like we suffer when we hold onto sin, whether
it is sin that we are afraid to admit to or sin that we think is minor and
harmless; sin destroys our relationship with God.
Only God can restore and renew us. He does this through the saving atonement of
Jesus. He does this through his love. He uses the baptismal grace that he gives us
for the daily washing of our sins away.
A clean heart, every day. A right
spirit, every day. God’s gift to us because
of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice.
Father,
in you we have forgiveness because of Jesus.
Make us clean and right. Give us
your Spirit to guard us and protect us.
In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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