Have you ever done something so egregious that you fell to your knees and begged forgiveness? Was your heart broken because of what you had done? Did you wrestle with it for several days? Did God relieve you of your sorrow? Were you able to move on from it?
Some of us, and maybe many of us, have done something we immediately regretted. In some cases, it may have hurt someone badly. It may have been a physical action, or it may have been something we said. Regardless, it was something we could not take back.
We know sin is sin. Yet, some sins are more egregious than others. Those severe sins can be very difficult to live with. There are often severe consequences as a result of them. One of those consequences is our heart breaking when we reflect on what we have done. That can be the hardest thing to live with. Our guilt is worn on our face and in our heart.
David felt that way when he wrote the fifty-first Psalm. He knew he had sinned egregiously when he slept with Bathsheba and had her husband, Uriah, purposely killed in battle. He fell to his knees and begged forgiveness from God. He knew he had allowed the power of being king to go to his head. He realized he had forgotten it was God who had given him his power. He turned back to God.
When we sin, we, too, can turn back to God. We can fall to our knees and ask God to forgive us. Repenting includes having the attitude and desire to turn away from the sin and commit it no more. God will heal our broken heart. He will cleanse us of our sin. If we are willing to follow him wholeheartedly, he will eliminate the sin from our lives.
I pray we all recognize our sin. I pray we fall to our knees before God and ask for forgiveness. I pray each one of us will choose to follow God’s guidance and allow him to remove our sin from us. Recognize your sin. Fall to your knees before God. Ask for forgiveness. Follow God’s guidance. Allow God to cleanse you of your sin.
Psalm 51:1-2
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
Marty Pressey 