By Toni Smothers
Scripture Reading for the day: Psalm 51:10-17
Scripture Quote: “So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. The letter instructed Joab, Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.” 2 Samuel 11:14-17
So David was indirectly but still quite guilty of murder. Yet we read that he was favored by God. Is our sin less because we haven’t murdered anyone? Does God rate sins on a scale of 1 to 10? He doesn’t, because the Bible tells us that all sin is abhorrent to God. All have sinned and been found wanting and in need of Christ’s cleansing sacrifice for God’s unconditional forgiveness.
We must learn to loath our own sin as much, if not more than, our brother’s. We all have that blackness in our inner being that can only be healed by Him. We must plead for our hearts to be cleansed and our souls renewed. More than anything we hold dear, we must hold the gift of a pure heart in the highest esteem. The Bible tells us, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”
Meditation for today: “God has promised to forgive and restore those who come to him hating their sins and wanting to be saved from them. He did it for David; He will do it for us, too.” J.J. Packer
Memory Verse: “You may be saying, what terrible people have you been talking about? But you are just as bad and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself for you do these very same things.” Romans 2:1 (NLT)