Listen

Create a clean heart for me, God; put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me! Please don’t throw me out of your presence; please don’t take your holy spirit away from me. Return the joy of your salvation to me and sustain me with a willing spirit.

Psalm 51:10-12

Think

“Create a clean heart for me, God; put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me!” is Psalm 51’s way of saying a phrase I know I have uttered often.

If you’ve ever been to a church camp, retreat, or mission trip, perhaps you have said a variation of it, too. The phrase is this: “I feel so close to God right now — I hope I can keep this feeling forever!”

When we are drawn to Jesus, we feel different, transformed! And we know that transformation is supposed to last — only it often doesn’t. “Real-world” problems easily ruin our hopes.

But the psalmist has a suggestion for this difficulty. When we confess, the writer says, we are able to share God’s ways with others, just as Jesus did. Praying honestly and openly, reaching out to those who feel lonely and distant, holding fast to Jesus’ promise, being drawn joyfully into the ministry of Jesus — such actions help us and others receive a willing and sustaining spirit from God that will last for a long, long time.

Ben Acton

Pray

Gracious and Loving One, I want to be drawn close to Jesus, close to you, close to your Spirit. Help me to do the things Jesus would do so that my life and the lives of others might be transformed. In Christ’s name I pray, amen.

Go

You have come to read, to listen, to reflect, to pray. You have come to consider the deep longing of your soul and to consider what draws your love, your trust, your service.

So now, go!

Go, knowing that the One to whom you are drawn is never far from you;

Go, trusting that the gifts you have been given will be up to the task;

Go, drawing others by the kindness of your words and actions into the always welcoming love and grace of Jesus Christ, who, through the cross, draws the world to himself.

Amen.