"Prone to Wander" March 18 Readings: Deuteronomy 13-14, Mark 14:51–72, Psalm 36:7–12, Proverbs 8:28-29

Today's Readings -  Deuteronomy 13-14, Mark 14:51–72, Psalm 36:7–12, Proverbs 8:28-29

Devotional - Prone to Wander

As of February, I have been a believer for 55 years. God has done a lot in my life over those five decades and I hope he has used me in his work. But the thing that sticks out as I think back on half a century as a Christian is how often, how shamefully, how consistently I have failed the Lord. I've had other priorities, let myself get focused on other things, turned my heart away from him, loved the things of this world - the list could go on and on.

Fortunately, God is so much more faithful to me than I am to him!

Like hymn-writer Robert Robinson (Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing), I rely on the grace and mercy of God daily.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be.
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee. 

The next words express the heart of my problem, the problem of my heart.

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. 

Like Israel of old I find my heart deceptive, drawing me away from devotion to God to a love of the things of this world. And when I think of how much time I've wasted, how many opportunities I've squandered, how many sinful choices I have made, I feel some of the despair that Mr. Robinson felt as he wrote that hymn.

But there is good news for guys like me. God is faithful. I must never use God's faithfulness as an excuse for sin or a way to rationalize away its gravity. My sin is serious. But God's grace is always greater than my sin. God's faithfulness is stronger than my infidelity. Look at the Psalmist's words in Psalm 36:7-9.

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
    The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
    and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
    in your light do we see light.

It is God's faithful, steadfast love that gives refuge to sinful people like me. He fills me from his abundance. I drink from the refreshing stream of his love - a fountain of the water of life. He lights my path so that I can see the way to go. I love that last phrase in verse 9. "In your light do we see light. Enlightenment comes only through him.

Yes, I have failed him so often, but his grace renews me daily. My eternal hope is built on Jesus' blood and righteousness, not my own goodness. I am secure in Christ and in the knowledge that sin will not have the last word in my life. He forgives and cleanses. He lifts up and restores. He renews and strengthens. He empowers and uses. And he does all of that with ordinary, unworthy sinners like me.

Praise God! Father your faithfulness is baffling, mind-boggling. I've been ready to give up on myself a hundred times, but you never give up on me. You are good, faithful, loving, merciful, holy, and relentless in your pursuit of my holiness. Thank you Lord, that is more about who you are than who I am. 

Think and Pray

Which of the readings spoke most powerfully to you today?
Is the Spirit of God moving you to repent of something you are doing, to begin something new, or to change something about your life as a result of your readings? What?

Do you tend to drift from a close, passionate walk with God?
Remember that your walk with God is rooted in God's work, not your feelings, but it is still important that we continue in passion and devotion, resisting our tendency to wander and to drift.