Daily devotion – failed again even though I was trying!
Romans 7:18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
What a heart revealing passage of scripture this is by Paul in his letter to the Roman Church.
People get tattoos today to remind them of certain things that are important to them. I am not one for tattoos but this passage of scripture tattooed across my forehead so that I can read each new day would be something to consider. I admit I would need a very large forehead or tiny text!
Seriously though, for today I attempted some home renovation work and failed dismally. The old tradesman adage of ‘measure twice and cut once’ I torpedoed again today.
My lack of dexterity in this area of work again reveals how seriously flawed I am at such things. But what I learnt from all my mistakes today was that my flesh and my daily walk before God often resembles or mirrors my skill capabilities. I want to do the right thing but don’t do it and the things I don’t want to do, I go ahead and do.
But thankfully we have God’s precious Word to turn to when we see the reality of our constant failures in action.
Lam 3:22 The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease.
Lam 3:23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
The great God, the Creator of the universe, sees my failings and grants me His mercy fresh and new each day, so that I can restart, step up again and learn that without Him I can achieve absolutely nothing.
If this week you find yourself on that usual scrap heap of blunders and failures, know that in the morning God will present you with His fresh new mercy once again.
Why – because He loves us!