Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24).
Have you ever asked God to search you? To know your heart? Try you? Know your thoughts? And then to see if there was anything wicked going on within you, your life? Interestingly, the Psalmist asked God to do that to him. He didn’t stop there—he then said, “lead me in the way everlasting”.
Yesterday, I heard a noise outside of my office window. It was the sound of a small engine, the voices of a couple of men and some sort of air or water sound. I got up from my desk and looked out my window to see what was going on. Sure enough, a couple of workers were using a motorized power washer to wash the sidewalk, walls and windows of the building. I watched them as they power washed the sidewalk. To my amazement, the concrete fresh look was being revealed. The dirt and stains were being washed away. I walk those sidewalks nearly every day but I had not realized how the dirt and stains had slowly covered the clean, concrete look.
Just like the dirt and stains on the sidewalks, the same things happen in our lives. Day by day, week by week, month by month, we are affected by the world in which we live. The hurts, disappointments, sins, negative emotions, you get the picture, yes, they slowly build up in our lives. The sad reality is that oftentimes, we fail to see just how the dirt and stains of life cover up what God has cleaned up.
So, let us pray for God to search us, to know our hearts, try us and know our thoughts. See if there by any wicked way in me—power wash my life with His Word, with His presence. You may be asking, “Why is that necessary?” The Psalmist tells us so that God will lead us in the way everlasting. Our “ways”, our sidewalks of life should be clean. God’s power washing in our life will be refreshing, clean and those around us will enjoy the results as well.
As God’s power washing takes place in your life, you may be surprised at how much of the world’s dirt and stains have found place in your life.
Woody
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