Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew in me a right spirit
Sitting in the plane getting ready to taxi away from the terminal always means one thing. The speech. You know the one that no one listens to. Exits here, life rafts here, stay calm when you are in the middle of crashing. Then comes the finale, in the event of an emergency, oxygen masks will fall from above. If you are traveling with someone who needs assistance, please put your mask on before helping your child or needy travel partner. We have all heard it a million times and seen the video about half that many as we turn our eyes towards other people, books, gadgets, newspapers and just about anything else we can think of. Have you ever asked yourself, "Why should I put on my mask first?" It is an obvious answer, but pointed: if you have died of suffocation, you can't help the person relying on you for care.
Now this is a simple observation but a really good word for us all. I never cease to amaze myself at how good I am at critiquing others, but tend to leave myself unchecked. When you look at David's petition to God above, His desire was to be cleaned up and sanctified. Why is David praying this? He knew Himself well and He knew that the only way that he was going to be of any use to God was to let God have His way with him, and breathe Holy life into the recesses of his soul. David knew that once he had been polished up by the Holy Spirit's work in his heart, then he could help others enjoy God as well. Just like the airbag, David needed the breath of God to fill Him, before he could give any righteous oxygen to others.
If we are honest, most of us are so busy trying to strangle people jamming their oxygen mask on their head, that we don't even realize we are suffocating and need of air, a communion with God. We need a deep Holy breath of God that fills us up and empowers us to spread His Glory and be deeply satisfied along the way. We are always thinking to ourselves, “well if he would just do this, or if she would just pray more, then everything would be just fine”. And all the while they watch us franticly squirm under the pressures of the day, struggling and gasping for a peaceful breath while you ask them to be more like you. And we wonder why our ministry and efforts aren't more fruitful. So, put on your mask before you try and help others. Remember, if you don’t have any air in your lungs you can’t help others receive any either. Only clean hearts can help dirty ones change.
Sitting in the plane getting ready to taxi away from the terminal always means one thing. The speech. You know the one that no one listens to. Exits here, life rafts here, stay calm when you are in the middle of crashing. Then comes the finale, in the event of an emergency, oxygen masks will fall from above. If you are traveling with someone who needs assistance, please put your mask on before helping your child or needy travel partner. We have all heard it a million times and seen the video about half that many as we turn our eyes towards other people, books, gadgets, newspapers and just about anything else we can think of. Have you ever asked yourself, "Why should I put on my mask first?" It is an obvious answer, but pointed: if you have died of suffocation, you can't help the person relying on you for care.
Now this is a simple observation but a really good word for us all. I never cease to amaze myself at how good I am at critiquing others, but tend to leave myself unchecked. When you look at David's petition to God above, His desire was to be cleaned up and sanctified. Why is David praying this? He knew Himself well and He knew that the only way that he was going to be of any use to God was to let God have His way with him, and breathe Holy life into the recesses of his soul. David knew that once he had been polished up by the Holy Spirit's work in his heart, then he could help others enjoy God as well. Just like the airbag, David needed the breath of God to fill Him, before he could give any righteous oxygen to others.
If we are honest, most of us are so busy trying to strangle people jamming their oxygen mask on their head, that we don't even realize we are suffocating and need of air, a communion with God. We need a deep Holy breath of God that fills us up and empowers us to spread His Glory and be deeply satisfied along the way. We are always thinking to ourselves, “well if he would just do this, or if she would just pray more, then everything would be just fine”. And all the while they watch us franticly squirm under the pressures of the day, struggling and gasping for a peaceful breath while you ask them to be more like you. And we wonder why our ministry and efforts aren't more fruitful. So, put on your mask before you try and help others. Remember, if you don’t have any air in your lungs you can’t help others receive any either. Only clean hearts can help dirty ones change.
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