IS YOUR LITTLE “I” ROBBING YOU OF YOUR PURPOSE?
I want to bring y’all something that’s been on my heart for a few weeks now from the 19th Psalm.
“Let the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.”
I’d be hard pressed to guess at how many times I’ve made those words a prayer. I committed the 19th Psalm to memory a long time ago and one of my joys is reciting it to the Lord in the early hours of the morning.
Scripture memory—now there’s a practice I can’t recommend highly enough. But I’ll stay on point. Several weeks ago, I was making that verse a prayer when the Lord arrested my attention and connected them with the verse before them in a way I’d never seen. The previous verse (13) reads,
Keep me back O Lord, from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I will be innocent of great transgression.
Presumptuous sins. Some translations say willful sins. Same. We’re talking about the temptation to self-rule, the little “i” that wakes up with us every single day. The little “i” that must be yielded today, and tomorrow, and a lot of times in between, like the boogey monster in a bad movie.
Our entire lives pivot on our wills. What do I mean by that? I mean our growth, our maturity, whether we will allow God to take us into that good purpose He has for our lives. It all hinges on our wills. Tragically, many believers never even begin the process of yielding their wills and as long as “I know I shouldn’t do this or say that turns into but I’m going to—” little “i” will rule the moment, sabotage our growth, and hijack our purpose.
These days I can longer pray for my words and my thoughts to be acceptable to the Lord, without beginning with my will. I ask the Lord to keep me back from willfulness to my ways so I will be innocent of great transgression, and then I ask Him to help my words and my thoughts be acceptable to His! I challenge you, I double dog dare you, to join me and watch Christ rule the day!
