Listen

When I kept quiet, my bones wore out; I was groaning all day long— every day, every night!— because your hand was heavy upon me. My energy was sapped as if in a summer drought. Selah

Psalm 32:3-4

Think

In south Texas where I live, we have summers that can last for 6 months or more. Temperatures can reach over 100 degrees in March and last until late September. By the time we get the first cool evenings in October we are all exhausted from the relentless heat. You can escape it for a bit inside an air-conditioned building, but as soon as you leave, it hits you again!

The psalmist likens carrying around the burden of our wrongdoing to this kind of oppressive heat. It drains the strength from our bones. It feels like a weight upon your body. Sometimes we can distract ourselves from the feelings of guilt by trying to justify our actions, or create excuses for what we “had to do.” Or we just keep quiet about them and hope to forget. But then God’s Spirit reminds us of the truth, and we feel the heat again.

Rob Mueller

Pray

Forgive me, Lord, for the ways I try to escape the heat of my wrongdoing by inventing justifications or denying what I did. When I feel weighed down by my guilt, help me to be honest about myself and not lie. Amen.

Go

Jesus said, “The truth shall set you free!” Live out of the truth about yourself this day.

You are an amazing and good creation of God, who sometimes fails to live up to God’s trust in you.