Thursday, December 20, 2007

Ouch!

It's amazing how God really just grabs my attention sometimes.

The other day I was doing my quiet time...okay, okay...half-heartedly doing my quiet time. For that day, it had almost become a 'check the box' on the to-do list.

I was reading along in Mark 16 where Christ's death is depicted. Christ says, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?) Even as I was reading it my heart wasn't in the right place. I was thinking that I've read this a million times before (okay, maybe that's an exaggeration)...it's even underlined with notes in my Bible. As I went back to my devotional, it discussed how every stripe on Christ's back, every nail, everything He endured on the cross was because of my sin. In my head, I was thinking 'but I know this.' The devotion continued on with the question of 'would I really have deserved this punishment' and the answer that according to the Word I do. But what hit home was the next line


And if we really think about it, as well intentioned as we assume we are, we can all recall times that we have shunned the personality of the Holy for something that utterly violated it...ON PURPOSE.

What??? On purpose???!!! My heart sank...and my entire attitude changed immediately changed. I won't go into the rest of my quiet time that day or what else I'm studying, but I am thankful that God is faithful. He loves me so much that He desires to humble me so that I will remember that time with Him is not something to be checked off each day, but it is a time of worship. It is a time for Him to teach me. It is a time where a daughter can just rest in the arms of her Father and remember the grace He lavishes upon her.

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