Pray… The fool believes in his heart You don’t exist, O God. Yet, as I try to follow You even I, who do believe, falls short of Your holiness. I think sinful thoughts and commit sinful deeds. There is no one without sin—no one whose flesh is pure. You look down from heaven upon the children You have created, to see if there are any who truly understand and seek after You. But we all turn aside at times, giving in to the lusts of our flesh, our eyes, our pride, and our worldly desires. There is no one righteous in the flesh—no, not even one. Apart from You even our righteous deeds are as filthy rags.
Why is it my knowledge increases and yet I fail to overcome? Having been given Your Spirit why do I continue in sin? Why do I insult grace while claiming to love You? Why do I return to the weak and worthless things I was freed from, allowing myself to be overcome once again? Why can’t I seem to set my mind and heart on the things above instead of earthly desires? Help me to look to You and fear, O God, for You are with the righteous who revere You and call upon Your name. Without Your Spirit guiding me, I would be unrepentant, practice sin, and ignore conviction and counsel. Lord Jesus, You are the hope and strength of the needy. Reveal Your righteousness to me, and let Your abiding presence fill my heart, the temple of Your Spirit. O Lord, forgive my sin and blot out my iniquity! Restore me from my captivity to the law of sin and death in the flesh, remind me of my true identity in Christ, and set me free to live life in the Spirit! Then I will rejoice, and Your kingdom will be exalted!
Consider… For there is nothing good that dwells in me—that is, in my flesh. Due to the pride that indwells our flesh, God must constantly remind us there are none of us capable of good apart from Him. Without abiding in our Vine we indeed could do “nothing” righteous. The only righteous deeds possible for sinners are those done through us by the only righteous One. To bear the good fruit that remains we must be abiding in that One, and He in us. We must not strive to be better people. We must rather seek to find where Christ is alive in us and operate from there. That is where we will find no provision for the flesh, and where we will find our passion and heart for our righteous mission in life. As His love flows through us, and our deeds become increasingly His, we are transformed into citizens of the kingdom and walk in those good deeds He has prepared for us to do. Then our deeds become His deeds. They are no longer “filthy rags” that are a product of our own righteousness. And that is very, very good!
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