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Today’s reading is Matthew 11:1-12:50.

I understand now why David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” in Psalm 51:10. Jesus said, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.”

Why did David pray for a clean heart and a renewed spirit? Because he understood that his sin went deeper than just a mere slip. He recognized that the sin was merely the symptom of a deeper heart problem. He didn’t simply need to apologize for the action. Rather, he needed to dig deeper and root out the canker in his heart. But more than that, he knew he couldn’t cleanse his heart on his own. He needed God to do that.

When I see the sins I have committed, I need to recognize they are actually just the symptom of the problem. The real problem is something on the inside is still amiss. I can fight all day long to quit committing the sin, but if the heart problem isn’t fixed, I’ll never overcome. I need to pray along with David for God to create in me a clean heart. I need to pray along with David for God to renew a right spirit within me. If I only attack the outside, I’m doing nothing more than trying to cover up the wound with a band-aid. I need God to perform some heart surgery. I need to submit my heart to the great physician for healing. I need to quit hanging on to parts of it for myself, but rather submit all of it to Him. If I do, He’ll heal me. He’ll cleanse me. He’ll forgive me and set me on the right path.

I must not try to excuse, justify, or minimize my sins. They are the only way I know something is wrong in the heart. If I keep looking the other way when those sins slip out, I’ll never see the problem and my soul will be lost. I need to see those sins and slips for what they are and let them guide me to turn more of my heart over to God. He’ll fix the heart problem if I’ll just let Him.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?