Psalm 51:5-6
“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.”
I hold in my hand (did before I started typing) a small black and white photo. It is a little creased, wrinkled and faded (so am I). The photograph shows a very young boy dressed in shorts and casual shirt, standing on a wooden porch. It is a photograph of me at about age 4.
After some seventy six years I remember the porch. I recall a day when I had slipped a butcher knife out of the kitchen drawer and sat on the porch whittling away on a piece of wood. Mom saw me and yelled for me to get that knife back in the house. I said I would, but I didn’t. After the second warning I quietly took the knife back into the kitchen and then returned to the porch. I took a piece of shingle that was about the same size as the knife and acted like I was still carving.
Suddenly the cloud descended and a mother’s wrath poured down on me. I acted innocent and showed her that it was just a piece of shingle and I was doing nothing wrong. I was wrong and the seat of my pants felt the wrath of a mother who should have been obeyed.
Even as adults we may try to act innocent when we sin, but in our heart of hearts we know that we have sinned and need forgiveness. The heart of everyone is bent toward evil and in need of cleansing. Rather than whittling away at something that is just an imitation, we need to confess our sin and receive newness of life.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil