Press the arrow to listen to Hillsong Church sing “From the Inside Out” while reading about inner cleansing.

Scripture
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.
Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:5-7

Observation
I can’t scratch my own back or change my own heart. There are parts of me that I cannot reach. But the comfort is that Jesus can.

There are parts of myself that I don’t like. There is even more that the Lord sees that I do not. There is an inner part of my life that is hidden from my view and detached from my reach. I can’t do a thing about it.

But Jesus can. When David talked about hyssop he conjured up thoughts in Jewish minds of something like spring cleaning to us. Hyssop was a handy plant in their world, with fine hairs to soak up liquids like a paint brush. The people were used to their homes being cleansed by a priest with the stems of the plant. Blood and holy water changed their homes.

Application
The heart needs a spring clean, because there are parts of ourselves that we cannot reach. What a picture of a heart so pure that it makes us snow blind. No one can do that, except Jesus. He can change what I feel, what I desire, what I twist and corrupt. I’m changed from the inside out. But nothing will happen unless I ask for it first.

Prayer
Father, you want more out of my heart than I can currently give. You want to store wisdom there. But there is clutter of immaturity and sometimes rebellion. Just like I invite a surgeon to access hidden parts of my body, so I request that you will probe the obscure parts of my heart. Change my inner landscape so that I will be whiter than snow. Jesus do a spring clean in my life. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Hillsong Church sing “Here I Am” as you read today’s devotion about faithfulness.

Scripture
“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went.

“The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” Matthew 21:28-31

Observation
We can be half-hearted and not even know it, for promises to do the work can  feel like actually getting the job done. We can show up at work, but leave a part of ourselves somewhere else. It may be in a fantasy of the future or a recollection from the past. Whatever the case, we don’t live up to the promises that we’ve made to the Lord.

The comfort in this little story from Jesus is that we have the space to change our mind and to still be considered diligent sons of our Father.

Application
When I reflect over my life, since my earliest days, there have been many times that while I’ve been “here” my will has been “there”, at some point in the past or the future. I have not been fully engaged in the present. God is only “near” if I am fully “here” for God lives in the eternal present. I can’t live “there” in the past or hankering for another future. I must work “here” living in the now, with my will fully wrapped around the context God has placed me in. And in the here and now God is near to me, as a Father working closely with his son.

Prayer
Father, today I fully embrace the present so that you may be present with me. I live today to do your will. Amen.