Relationships
take time. And as time passes, we can decide whether we want to go to
the next level with a person and eventually open up to them. This
doesn’t have to be a boyfriend or girlfriend thing; this can apply to
many relationships.
Hopefully,
we all have someone we can tell our deepest and darkest secrets to;
someone we know can keep our confidence. Friends like these know when
there is something wrong with us, even when others don’t. They have
been our friends for so long they can sense our mood without even
talking to us. With an acquaintance, it’s different. We might tell them a
little about our life, but we usually let them know all of the good
stuff; we almost wear a mask for them.
Ironically,
we sometimes try to wear this mask for Jesus. When we pray, we might
ask him to forgive us of our little sins and ask for good things to
happen to us, but we never ask him to search us. We don’t tell him to
look deep down in our heart and see if there is anything within us that
needs changing. We hesitate to open up in this way because it’s
uncomfortable. When the Holy Spirit searches us and convicts us of sin,
we rationalize it away. Or, we have been living our life with a
particular sin for so long, that it just becomes a part of us and we are
calloused. We forget that Jesus already knows what is in our hearts
(John 2:23).
Jesus
is waiting for us to invite him into our hearts and cleanse us of our
grievous ways. We can’t hide our sins from Jesus; only keep them from
the healing power of His presence. And by holding our sin so tightly, we
do nothing but embrace our own death, while pushing away the author of
life. We should daily pray as the Psalmist does, and ask God to search
our hearts. We should open ourselves up to the real healing that only
God can give.
Have you let Jesus look into your heart lately?
source: shortdailydevotions.com
