I had the sweet privilege yesterday of talking with a young woman about some hard things that she is experiencing in her life. Most of the difficulty she is facing is from choices she’s made outside of the will of God. There has been a straying from the Lord that has taken her down a tough path. I had the opportunity to open the Word of God and share with her the way back to the Lord. My heart truly aches for her and I’m praying she will take the counsel given and return to the Savior who so desires that she return to Him.
I went to prayer meeting last night with the burden of this dear woman on my mind. As the service began we opened our songbooks and sang “Come Thou Fount.” As we sang the words in the third verse my heart cried to the Lord, “Yes, Lord, this is me!” They are as follows:
O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.
As I sang I thought about the young woman I had counseled in the afternoon and how her heart had wandered, but I also thought about how my own heart is indeed prone to do the same thing. I am prone to leave the God I love! It is crucial that I understand my hearts’ propensity to lead me away from the God that saved me. Without that understanding I could very easily ignore the warning signs of straying and wake up far from Him. This does not happen overnight, it happens little bit by little bit.
What are some warning signs that we’re straying from God?
· Not reading the Bible and a lack of desire for reading His Word
· No desire to pray
· No desire to be in God’s house
· No burden for the lost
· Doing things we know are disobedient to the Word of God, and excusing it
· No desire for Christian fellowship
Just like a physical is crucial to my physical well-being, a daily spiritual check-up is necessary in my life so I don’t follow my wayward heart. How thankful I am that He loves us no matter how far we may stray. However, there is daily grace available to keep us from straying. May each of our hearts cry out daily, “Here’s my heart, O take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above!”
RefreshHer 