Heart Like His
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf; Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).
When we come into the presence of God, we instantly realize that we need a covering. We recognize that we are undone and unclean. How can we stand before God? We must have something that can shield us from the piercing light of his holiness.
The righteousness of Christ is what covers us. But as soon as we are covered and can stand in his presence, we have a second realization. We find that we are not content to be covered.
God is not an enemy; he is our friend. He is not One to flee from; he is the One we want to be like. At this point, we begin to long for him to change us from the inside out. Our prayer becomes, “God, can you not merely cover me but also change me? Can you transform my heart into something beautiful?”
Answering that prayer is just what he is waiting and wanting to do for us. When we are reconciled to him, he begins to put his likeness into our lives.
He wants to get us to the place where we love what he loves. If we are full of unholiness and he is holiness itself, then he must give his nature to us so there can develop between us that deep and satisfying compatibility for which our hearts yearn.
O for a heart to praise my God,
A heart from sin set free.
A heart that always feels thy blood
So freely shed for me.
A humble, lowly contrite heart,
Believing, true, and clean.
That neither life nor death can part
From Christ who dwells within.
Charles Wesley, “O for a Heart to Praise My God”,
The United Methodist Hymnal, no. 417.
—Dennis Kinslaw
This Day with the Master
St. Augustine confessed to God so many centuries ago, “Our heart is restless until it rests in you.” But here’s the good news! God promises: “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you” (Isaiah 44:22). Do you remember the story of the Prodigal Son? When he determined to turn for home, the scripture says, “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). On those occasions when our sin has us feeling distant from our Father, relief and restoration are just a turn for home away. King David shared from his experience: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night; your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin” (Psalm 32:3-5). Be encouraged! “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). And what a beautiful thing that is! “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven” (Psalm 32:1). —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics