Can You Get That Heart Any Cleaner?

Few things are scarier than taking a polygraph test.  Luckily, most of you have never taken one, but I can attest that it is a VERY undesirable experience.  Not that I’m a major criminal, but just being hooked up to the machine makes it seem like you have something to hide.  Kind of like a visit to the Maury Povich Show.  I was required to take an annual polygraph for a job I held, which means the operator was definitely looking for some sort of wrong deed that I had committed against the company.  The tester was looking for SIN.  I am happy to report that I never did anything wrong that would show on a polygraph but confronting one’s deeds and having to be completely honest about them isn’t something we often face.

Everyone KNOWS that God wants us to be honest in all our dealings, especially with HIM.  But this one passage reminds us of that truth a few times:

An honest witness tells the truth; a false witness tells lies.  ¹⁸ Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.  ¹⁹ Truthful words stand the test of time, but lies are soon exposed…²² The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in those who tell the truth.   Proverbs 12:17-22

No surprises there!  But am I alone, or do you have a hard time telling God the truth in every situation?  I’m not even asking if you always tell your spouse or parent the truth.  I’m wondering if you always “fess up” to God about what’s going on in your life since YOU know HE knows anyway?  Why do we do what we do?  Here’s another verse to think about the next time you pray:

I know also, my God, that You test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness….   1 Chronicles 29:17

When you seek the face of God in prayer, please understand that God WANTS you to come to Him with anything that’s on your heart – except your sin.  God desires to hear from us, His children, about anything and everything that concerns us.  But can you imagine the conversation the next time you come to Him clinging to your sin?  God asks, “My dear child, what is that stain on your Spirit?”  And you respond, “I don’t see anything.”  God gently reaches out and touches you in the middle of your chest and says, “I mean right there.  What is that spot on your heart?”  And you just shake your head and LIE and say, “No, I’m fine.”

You just failed your polygraph!  If some person can hook you up to a machine and tell if you’re being honest, don’t you know that the God who made you and knows how many hairs are on your head knows what you’ve been up to?  That sin, whatever it is, will keep you from touching the heart of God when you may need Him the most.  Clinging to the sin – not acknowledging it to Him – is what causes the breakdown.  Because the FACT that you sin is no surprise to the One who came to free you from that ugly habit. 

God gave His Son to pay the penalty for your sin, so you could be with Him for eternity.  In the process, Jesus also broke the chains that bind you to sin each day.  It’s always better to reach out to God BEFORE you sin and seek the Holy Spirit’s help to say “No” to sin.  But if you fail to avoid it, don’t try to hide it.  God wants you to have a clean heart.  David understood that:

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.  ² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.  ³ For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me…¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.   Psalm 51:1-10

A clean heart.  I need one of those and I know how to get it.  I’m betting you do, too.

Jacob