The horse precedes the cart. Does it not? If it’s to move forward it must.
Am I guilty of putting the cart before the horse? Am I am guilty of lifting my hands in praise to my God, yet often forgetting to remember He is Holy. He is Just.
Have I forgotten?
He knows every thought in my heart.
Do I come through God’s doors seeking blessing and peace?
And yet expect perfection from others, not trusting, making lists of their wrongs, and then come to praise God, lift my hands. What is it I seek?
“Our Father who is in Heaven, Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Do I even come close to understand the words I’m saying?
“Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors.”
We all have debts, we all have debtors. God knows this world is hard and painful, but He breathed out His letters.
“As we have forgiven our debtors.” This is the method Jesus instructed we pray. How sharp, and at the same time grace-full; instruction and warning yet, “always believing.” This the Lord’s, (not man’s) way. “Help my perceiving.”
I have forgiven. I have spent time in prayer. God knows I have, but then, am I being tempted that I haven’t?
The battle is great, my constitution weak:
And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil.” (1)
I won’t for a minute longer try to celebrate the joy of the Lord, until I have first come, asking mercy, with a heart ready for surgery from His Word.
I come to the cross. Drawing near to God. He laid down His life. He took all my sin—my ugliness, my strife.
I must not worry about what others think, I must first come to Jesus, and be willing to hear Him speak.
Tempted to run, but right here I’ll stay. Today must be a day of atonement for me. To be at-one-with-God. To know Him and His love and His compassionate, gracious way.
So I look up atonement, and let God’s Word (and Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible on Leviticus 23), speak.
The horse precedes the cart. This is the only way to move forward. This day of mourning and sadness for sin, leads on to gladsome feast and in the Lord, great rejoicing.
No work of mine. Not one thing I can do. Jesus did the work for me. And He paid it in full . . . for you.
We’ve all been broken. We’ve all fallen. We so often miss the mark. But He’s risen and alive!
The day of atonement must come first. But then the joy of the Lord will move the cart.
Daily let us come to the cross and seek His grace. Receiving and believing, this moment, then . . . we wash the tears from our face.
Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible brought insight for this blog. Feb. 24—Evening, Leviticus XXIII.
(1) Matthew 6:9-13