What Has Been My Excuse?

I have spent quite a bit of time in the book of Psalms this month, as I started a reading plan to complete the Bible in one year's time. I was struck anew by David's constant praise of the Lord through his words, his song and his dance. David surely knew how to make praising and glorifying the Lord a daily lifestyle. I must confess, as of late, I have found it difficult to bring glory and honor to God in my daily walk. I should know better too, not to let my daily circumstances interfere with my praise and worship. A pattern of neglected prayer and neglected time in God's word has certainly affected my daily walk with the Lord and my relationships with others. How and just when was it that I let the "business" of ministry work, family life and community service compete with my personal time spent with God? David had wars to fight, women to impress, men to lead, an army to feed and yet he still found time to worship and praise God! What has been my excuse?

David was also good at turning his sorrows and his sins over to God. Lately, I do not think I have been taking my sorrows and sins to the cross with the right spirit. Psalm 25 is a careful reminder of this. In verse 1, David simply says "Look at my affliction and my pain." and then he petitions the Lord, "Forgive all my sins". Through some recent trials and sufferings, I find myself asking the Lord to just remove my pain, my affliction without seeing the sin that is connected to that pain. David cries out to the Lord to see his pain, his sin and he leaves them there with the Lord, seeking forgiveness and freedom from sin's curse. What has been my excuse?

I think I have proven to myself that without constant restoration, I am not ready for the perpetual assaults of hell or for the strife within myself. David has helped me see that despite the wars that rage on and the daily struggles we face, we need restoration. Christ must be the daily Master of my heart and the source of my renewal. Time with God in prayer, praise and repentance no longer should be an afterthought to my excuses.

Better Late Than Never

It has been almost exactly a year since I posted on my blog sight. I used to look forward to the quiet evenings when I could sit down, collect my thoughts for the week and express them in the written word. I'm really not sure why I stopped posting my thoughts and family pictures last year. I either became lazy, bored or just disenchanted because no one read it any way. Until recently, I started reading the Bible using a one year plan and found myself taking notes along the way and decided it was time to organize those thoughts and put them in a journal. So, here I am again. I will either prove myself disciplined or just simply following another exercise of futility.

So, here I go...keyboard at the ready, procrastination set aside and thoroughly convinced that is is better late than never.