Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 131:1-3
Psalms 131:1-3
1 My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. 2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore.
Is it possible for us to admit how much we are trying to live to please the Lord and how much we totally obey him without being proud or seeing our lives as works of righteousness deserving reward? We have been reminded so much and so often that we have all sinned and that Jesus is the only man who ever lived without sin that we feel we cannot admit we are living for God without sounding like we are bragging. Paul said he had died to sin so much that he no longer lived but Christ Jesus lived in him. Had he reached perfection? No, he said he still pressed on toward that mark which was only achieved in eternity.
To be sure, it is a fine line between admitting we are living for God and sounding proud. The difference may only be in our attitude toward ourselves and toward God. Do we depend on our doing and our righteousness as means of our being saved and counted as righteous or do we depend totally on Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross? Do we view ourselves as having arrived or do we see ourselves as still fighting the battle and as running the race?
Yes, as we struggle in this life, we still sin. No matter how much we try or how good we get, we still miss the mark of perfection – the glory of God. But we can live with the peace that surpasses understanding and with absolute confidence in our relationship with God. This is because our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and his righteousness. He is the solid rock so our hope is not built on shifting sand and our confidence is sure.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for your love for me. I thank you for the forgiveness you give through the blood of Jesus. Thank you for raising him from the dead so I can have the assurance of my own resurrection. Thank you for the peace of mind you give because you have removed my sins from me. Keep me from ever being proud of my own accomplishments or thinking I have arrived. Help me be diligent to do your will and never become lax in my service. Use me to do your work here on earth. Give me greater ability and help me use every opportunity to encourage those who are seeking you and who are struggling to live for you. Be with those who are suffering cancer and other diseases that ravage their bodies and give them healing as you see best, strength to endure and faith to know you are with them. Continue to forgive me when I sin. I pray in the name of Jesus.
--Robert
