Main Verse: Isaiah 6:8-10

Good morning

            According to the dictionary, the word “motivation” means, “Reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.” “Populism” on the other hand implies “following the crowd” wherever they may go. The reason populism and motivation are so important to our walk with Jesus is, populism and motivation answer the question, “Why?” Throughout our lives we have made personal choices, one or two were good and others not so much. When we tell other people about our past, we talk about the fun we had, the funny things that happened, and the “after affects.” The thing we will never talk about is the deep inner turmoil our choices had cost us, how following the crowd ruined our credibility, and/or our motivations mislead us.

When we surrendered to Jesus Christ and accepted his sacrifice for our sins, it too was a personal choice and one of the most important choices that we will ever make. No matter how long we walk with the Lord, our past along with all the choices we made will come back to haunt us. Consider Moses’ response to the Lord’s directive “Go tell Pharaoh, ‘Let my people go’” (Exodus 3:1-10). The problem was, Moses had a secret, “He killed an Egyptian” which, was the reason he was in Midian in the first place (Exodus 2:11-14). Had Moses talked with the Lord about the sin, the Lord would have forgiven him and empowered him to face the giant; Instead, Moses left worried that someone would remember what he had done in Egypt. By circumcising Moses and his son, Moses’ wife Zipporah settled the matter between Moses and God (Exodus 4:19-26).

Just as Zipporah stood between Moses and God, so Jesus Christ by his sacrifice brought us into unity with God (John 6:52-58). The problem is, we tend to hide our past, our motives, and how we followed the crowd into sin thinking, “God will never know.” Confessing our sins brings healing and restoration because it allows Jesus’ completed work to set us free (John 8:36). My encouragement for you today is, talk about your past with the Lord and do not leave anything out and then forgive yourself as He has forgiven you (Colossians 3:12-13).

I.H.S.

MK