New Morning Mercies #317

You will never find fulfillment of heart on the far side of rebellion. True rest of heart is always found in submission to the Savior.

Today is my birthday. I mention this not because I hope you will log on to Amazon.com and rush me a gift (although Amazon’s delivery system is quite efficient, if you’re so inclined). I have walked with the Lord and studied his Word for many, many years; longer than I would like to admit. Over the years, I have gained a high level of biblical literacy and a solid understanding of the theology of the Word of God. I have surely grown in my faith. I have an understanding of the glories of redeeming grace that I did not have for many of my years as God’s child. I have been involved in many ministry enterprises in many locations. What God has called me to do has taken me to almost every continent to fellowship and serve with God’s people there. I have a library filled with grace-filled books. I love to worship and I love to sit under Christ-centered, grace-filled preaching. I’m married to a godly wife who encourages my faith. This birthday, like many others, stimulates me to count my blessings, and they really are many. But there is one thing today that confronts me as it did the year before: I am not a grace graduate.

I am still tempted to think that my way is better. No, not in big, grand, public sins, but in the more acceptable sins of pride, impatience, failure to be gentle, loving myself more than my neighbor, and loving pieces of the creation more than I should. It is embarrassing to admit that all of this is fueled by a grand delusion that I thought I had conquered long ago. It is a delusion that I have expounded much in my writing and my speaking. It is the lie of lies, the lie that was first told in the garden and that has been repeated a billion times since. Believing this lie not only turns you into a fool, but it also makes you a rebel against your heavenly Father. What is this lie? It is the lie that life can be found outside of the Creator.

We all want lasting rest and sturdy peace of heart. We want to be able to quit searching and have hearts that are satisfied. But we forget that real rest of heart is never found on the other side of the Creator’s boundaries. Peace and rest are always found when we give our hearts in submission to the Savior. Rest is found in these words: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). We say to God: “May your kingdom come in all that I think, desire, and say. May your kingdom come in my marriage and in my family. May your kingdom come in my work. May your kingdom come in my leisure. May your kingdom so rule my heart that stepping over your boundaries would no longer be attractive to me.” That is my prayer for myself and for all who read this devotion.

For further study and encouragement: Mark 8:34–38