August 17 - Create in Me a Pure Heart

August 17 - Create in Me a Pure Heart
Psalm 51:10

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

The Tin Man wanted nothing more than a heart.  It was just that simple for him.

It isn’t so simple for us, though, is it?  There was never a time in my life when I felt as if my heart were pure.  When I was in high school, I decided that I needed to be a little more aware of the ‘little’ sins and transgressions from my day, so I began a list.  Each night I would reflect on my day and look at my interactions with people.  Every time I noticed a point where I’d done something that seemed like a sin, I wrote it down.

Those days are long gone, and why?  Because I was overwhelmed.  Even as a young girl who really hadn’t committed many big sins, my life was filled with things that I didn’t like and I was certain things that God wouldn’t like either.  There weren’t any glaring sins, the Big Ten were far from my list … well, except for the coveting … I had plenty of friends who had nice things that I thought I needed too.

My sins became a focus for me and I couldn’t get past the idea that I was basically a terrible person.  I wanted to be sure that I asked forgiveness for each one of them and nothing was left uncovered.

But, I had no way of erasing those sins once they were written down.  Every time I looked through the notebook, I was reminded of just how horrible I was and what a worthless Christian I had been throughout the day.

That’s not at all why God sent his son to earth.  We aren’t to spend our lives focused on our sin.  Jesus removed all of that from us and continues to do so when we repent.  David asked God to create a clean heart within him and that is exactly what God wants to do with us.

I still reflect, but I don’t spend time writing them down. I still ask forgiveness, but I allow that and the Love of God to wash over me rather than recrimination.  God offers us forgiveness, we can have a clean heart.