A Humble Heart

"O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion." (Daniel 9:18)

There are a number of common threads that run through both the Old and New Testament and testify to God's love and pursuit of mankind. Even though we know that grace and truth culminate in Jesus (John 1:17) we find shadows throughout the Old Testament of what was to come. In Daniel 9 we find Daniel praying for his people. Daniel offers up a prayer of repentance, hope and restoration.

Daniel approaches the Lord in the only way we can -- with humbleness of heart and trust in God's compassion. One of the issues we have in the Church today is our struggle to balance the love of God without making an idol of humanity. In doing so we too often embrace a subtle form of humanism where God can only be good if His chief aim is to please man. We raise our belief and sin above God and above His Word. Universalism is a great example of this. Judgment is such a terrible concept that we can't reconcile it with a loving God, so we declare all men saved, whether they realize it or not. We pick and choose Bible verses to back our point and ignore the rest. Paul becomes totally schizophrenic and his writings are now totally inconsistent, but we feel better. Another example is homosexuality. People generally want to be nice so they go along with the argument that God must have made some people that way, ignoring what both scripture and science say about the matter. Homosexuality is no longer an act, but an identity, but what it really has become is an idol -- something held higher than God and what He has said.

But back to Daniel. Daniel approaches the Lord with no excuses and no justification. Man is subservient to God. God is the one who is holy and righteous and full of mercy and compassion. Man is the one who has sinned against God and ignored his long suffering kindness and ongoing warnings. God is on the throne, not man. Just as it can truly only be. Daniel prayed, "we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion." That is how we approach God and we can do so boldly, as His children, if we are born again. We don't approach God through our good works and we don't have to hold back because of our shortcomings, and yet we do have to approach humbly.

Humility means we lay our lives before Him -- not my way but yours O Lord. We don't approach God in our own righteousness, neither do we presume upon Him to accept what He has said is wrong. Both ways are idolatry because both attempt to raise man above God. Faith in Jesus is rooted in humility before God. It's not about getting everything right, but there ought to be a desire to want what God wants, regardless of how we personally feel, or even our ability to live up to it. That's a heart God can work with. Anything else is pride and vanity.

What attitudes and beliefs have you held above God's Word? There is no problem or sin that is too great for Him. It was for freedom that Christ has set us free. Freedom is not the ability to do whatever I want. That will only lead to bondage. True freedom is found in God. He is, after all, the only truly free being.