Day 2: Submission to God
Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:6-7).
Our Father in heaven, You are holy—hallowed be Your name. "You do not delight in sacrifice," David prayed, "or I would bring it; You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart You, God, will not despise" (Psalm 51:16-17).
Lord, You are the God who sees our hearts. You said of Yourself through the prophet Jeremiah, “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve” (Jeremiah 17:10).
You did not despise Abel's sacrifice, offered from a heart that desired to please You. But for Cain there was a warning, "sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7). That warning went unheeded, and sin gained ascendancy.
From us, too, Father, You desire the same as You desired from Cain—a heart bowed in submission to God. Open our hearts to Your scrutiny and Your correction. Help us to pray as David did, See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:24).
In Your great mercy, show us the areas of our lives where sin is crouching, desiring to have mastery over our lives. Lead us to the godly sorrow [that] brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret (2 Corinthians 7:10). Deliver us from the evils of pride, arrogance, and rebellion, so that we do not march forward into sin for want of submission to God.
O Lord, You have offered us deliverance from the fate of Cain. You do not desire that we be driven [away], hidden from Your presence…restless wanderers on the earth (Genesis 4:14). Our Lord Jesus said when He came to dwell among us, I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10).
Help us not to miss Your full, abundant life for want of submission. Help us to lay before You the sacrifice of a yielded spirit, a broken and a contrite heart (Psalm 51:17).
You have longed for sweet peace, And for faith to increase, And have earnestly, fervently prayed; But you cannot have rest, Or be perfectly blest, Until all on the altar is laid.
Refrain: Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid? Your heart does the Spirit control? You can only be blest, And have peace and sweet rest, As you yield Him your body and soul.
~ Elisha A. Hoffman ~ 1900
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