Daily Reading
Daily Thought
David displays a desperate desire to deal with his sin and be restored to righteousness. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me,” he pleads. “Restore to me the joy of your salvation” (Psalm 51:10, 12). You hear in his cries the shame of sin, but it is not that which drives him. He misses his Father, “Against you, you only, have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4). Inside all sin is a sadness, a scarred remembrance of the holy wonder of our creation.
A friend in college, Craig, bought a sporty little 1978 MG Midget. Sweet car, nice looking, good paint. And then he got a ding, a 4-inch gash on the left front fender. Several weeks passed and I asked if he was going to fix it, but it was a lot of money and his insurance would go up, and, “well, no,” he said. “Maybe I can put up with it.”
“How often do you notice it?” I asked.
“Every single time I get in the car,” he said.
“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me” (Psalm 51:3).
I gave him the number of a good body shop.
“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Psalm 32:1).
Daily Prayer
My God and Savior, what an amazing love You have for me. You sent Your only Son, the only sacrifice sufficient for my sins, so that I might be made righteous. You created me in Your image, and yet I turned to the pleasure of sin and away from the joy of paradise. Still You are willing to forgive me, to invite me back in the family, to create in me again a clean heart.
Restore right desires in me. Renew my love for righteousness and justice. I am sorry for my sins. I will turn away from them and follow You. Make me new again.
Amen