Remove, Renew, Restore

"Don't keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart. O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me... Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you." Psalm 51


After experiencing unsuccessful steroid shots in my shoulder (translation: It still hurt!), the doctor decided it was time to take a closer look. "How about that?!", he says, looking at the images on the screen. My aging rotator cuff had severed and needed to be renewed. During my appointment after the surgery, he showed me the cause of my injury -- a nasty looking bone spur that he had to remove. In time, I'm told, with exercise, it will be restored to full strength.

As David stood there shattered in the midst of his own wicked choices, he was painfully aware of what needed to happen. He knew, like we know, he could not undo the cause for his guilt, shame and sleepless nights. What he needed only God could give him. He needed soul surgery. The sins he had committed were causing him to rot from the inside out. "I can't get rid of this stain Lord, please remove it." "I don't even know who I am or where I am going Lord, renew my heart and mind." "Please Lord, through the joy of knowing you, restore my strength!" 

These cries from a helpless heart may sound familiar to you or maybe they should. No one other than Jesus could ever walk this life in sinless perfection. When the moral measuring stick is no one other than God himself, we are all left wanting. Does this surprise God? Is he in heaven baffled by our behavioral blunders? Grieved? Yes. Baffled? No. It's not an easy road to walk, the road straight to the one we have so grievously offended, but it's a necessary one. When we arrive, we find him fully prepared to remove, renew and restore.

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