I have hidden your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
About the time we had started praying for a baby, we knew we had outgrown our tiny rental apartment. A realtor friend had found a three-bedroom starter home for us located in a suburb among the hills of a ranch town in southern California. The house was just right.
With the miracle birth of our baby girl, we used one of the rooms for a nursery, and the other was a spare room. We had hoped the third room would be for another baby someday. But after more years of waiting, praying, further medical tests and procedures, we had come to terms with the reality of secondary infertility.
The spare room became a catch-all for things we had accumulated and did not know what to do with. Then when my husband began working from home, that room became his office. And all the stuff we had not dealt with was shifted into closets, out to the garage, and in the corner of our bedroom. Soon the boxes needed new hiding places.
We hesitated to invite people over because they might see the clutter. The stuff was more than just items on a to-do list; it had become piles of shame. So I stared boldly in the face of those piles and named them what they were: baggage. And they needed to go.
This had me thinking about the piles of shame hidden in my heart… What we sometimes do with stuff from our past, how we tuck the pain away where no one can see. Hidden from the uncomfortable, unlovely, unseemly they reveal too much about our story. And so we hide. Like Adam and Eve in the garden, we hide ourselves among the leaves for fear of being exposed. The serpent speaks lies about who we are and what we may or may not have done.
Shame keeps us from becoming more fully ourselves and walking in the freedom of who God calls us, His children. When we step into the light of His love the darkness hides. We are found by His mercy and redeemed in the fullness of His grace. Come to Jesus and give those bags over to him, set them down at the foot of the Cross.
My prayer today is an interpretation on Psalm 19:12-13: How can I know all the [baggage] in my heart? Lord, cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep me from deliberate sins. Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt [and shame]. In Jesus’s name, amen.
Hidden
Read the verse of the day: PSALM 119:11
Have you ever read a verse from the Bible that seemed to come alive? This can happen with a verse you have read many times before. Suddenly the scripture becomes a living, breathing source of strength that speaks life into a situation you may be facing.
One thing that makes a verse speak is the choice of words the author used in the text. We see a word in context that holds a certain weight and we seek to understand its meaning.
How to use this word study
We will read the verse of the day in our Bible. Then we will clarify our understanding of the key word (see above) using a Concordance, Word Study bible, or English dictionary. If you do not have these resources, no worries! Helpful tools online include BlueLetterBible.org and Dictionary.com.
Look up today’s verse. Have a pen and paper ready. We will work through five steps.
- Write down the Bible verse.
- Find the key word and circle it.
- Look up the definition of the word (notice how it is used in context).
- If you are reading from a different translation of the Bible, which word is used instead?
- Underline where you find a promise. Find the heart of this verse and mark it with a heart shape.
(Click here for How to Use a Word Study.)
Meditation
What does this verse reveal about God’s heart? How does this truth refresh your soul? Turn this into your prayer today.
Please leave a comment below to share something that touched you in today’s devotional.
Follow this series
You are reading part of the 31 day series from Weary to Worship. To see other days click on Write 31 Days 2017 from the top menu. Before you go…I have carefully curated a special guide to accompany this series.
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