Day 4: The heart of the contrite
You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life (John 5:39-40).
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, You testified concerning the Lord Jesus Christ in various ways, including through the Scripture, and through the very works that He did (John 5:36:39).
But the gospel writer John reported, He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him (John 1:11). The blinding force of their own traditions, systems, charter, and expectations covered their hearts like a veil (2 Corinthians 3:15).
Lord, today many continue to search—some even the Scriptures. And the promise You made long ago, still stands: "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).
But You require us to seek with humble hearts. You have told us, “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at My word” (Isaiah 66:2).
You understand our honest struggles—our questioning, perplexity, misunderstanding, confusion, doubt, reasoning, curiosity, feeble faith; even our arguments and contentions. You show us Your kindness and patience with Moses, Gideon, the disciples, the Samaritan woman, Zacchaeus, the unbelieving father, the Canaanite woman...
But You also show us the contrast with those who came in hypocrisy, hardness, or rebellion—those who came in pride. You make it clear how You view pride and arrogance: Pride and arrogance... I hate (Proverbs 8:13 - ESV).
And again, Surely He scoffeth at the scoffers; But He giveth grace unto the lowly (Proverbs 3:34 - ASV). The apostle James drew from this scripture when he wrote, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble (James 4:6 - NIV).
O God, it is amazing that the Lord of all—the Everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth (Isaiah 40:28) invites us, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:8). But You invite us to come to the God You are—the God You have revealed Yourself to be—not the "gods" we want according to our traditions, our systems, our charter, and our expectations.
Help us Father, not to spend our lives in pursuit of the empty promises of this world—its power, pastimes, and pleasures. Remove the veil of pride and blindness that causes us to settle for minor gods when You call us into the presence of the One who dwells in the heights of heaven (Job 22:12)—the One who declares:
For this is what the high and exalted One says—He who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite (Isaiah 57:15).
And for the soul that earnestly seeks, Your assurance still stands, To all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12)—children of the resurrection who can no longer die... (Luke 20:36).
Comments