February 23
(Psalm 24:3-5 NIV) “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? {4} He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. {5} He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior.”
(Romans 3:22-24) “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, {23} for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, {24} and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
“Who may stand in the presence of God?” Psalm 24 answers the question in one verse with four conditions. We must “clean hands”; hands that have not sinned. We must have a pure heart; a heart that has never even thought of sinning; a heart that never entertains unclean thoughts, never lusts, never gossips, never acts in anger, never dishonors the Creator. We must have never lifted up our soul to an idol. Anything we give our hearts to instead of Jesus, can be an idol. Careers, sports, sex, power, music, internet, money, and even children, become idolatrous if they take our eyes off the Lord. And we must have never told a lie. Wow! The standard is just too high. None of us can ascend that holy hill to stand in God’s presence. We will need help. And our holy God of grace provides a way. His name is Jesus. Follow Him up the hill. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day
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