"Create in me a clean heart, O God."
Psalm 51:10
If you will take an objective glance at the Christian church, you will find humanism has made its way into the mainstream. The average best-sellers among Christian books today are self-help books that teach you that you can become a better you. The popular messages from pulpits tell people if they will just speak it out loud their desire will come to pass. There is instruction for the addict to reach deep inside himself and break the chains that bind him. I even heard a whole message the other day from a Christian pastor on how the church needs to be instrumental in reversing global warming. Somewhere I think we get the idea that reformation is all about man and what he does to cause that reformation.
David comes to the Lord in recognition of not just his act of sin but especially his nature of sin. It is in this moment that he realizes that he has nothing good to offer to God in himself. With this broken and contrite spirit he stands as a needy man before a holy God and requests, "Create in me a clean heart." Notice that the understood subject is God. David knew that he was completely incapable in himself of seeing his life and heart be transformed. There was nothing in him that could bring about the change that he so desperately needed. Is this not the fulfillment of the first of the beatitudes, "Blessed are the poor in spirit"? How humbly we need to come to God for His help!
I have shared this illustration with many before, but I find it very appropriate. When our daughter was just a new toddler, we saw the first glimpse of her stubbornness. (I am not sure if she got that from me or her mother. You can be the judge!) I was sitting on the couch relaxing when she came toddling in to the room. She wanted to get up on the couch with me, so I reached down to pick her up. She refused, because she wanted to do it herself. She tried and tried to throw her little leg up on to the couch but to no avail. It didn't matter how hard or how long she tried to pull herself up she couldn't do it. Finally, after quite a while, she looked into my eyes and stretched out her hand for help. I gladly picked her up and placed her beside me. She had to come to the point that she realized that without the hands of her father she was helpless.
How greatly the church needs to come to that same realization! We cannot receive a renewal and an awakening by doing the Christian work in our own power. We need a new heart and a power source which is not of this world. Let's throw this humanistic philosophy and doctrine back to hell where it came from and fervently call on God for a work of restoration, reformation, and transformation.
May you hunger and thirst for the Almighty today!
No comments:
Post a Comment