May 5 - Reading 33: Psalms 102-103

“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:13-14)

Some of us may be offended by being considered just”dust.” But these verses can actually be comforting. Why? Because we don’t have to pretend, or perform, or prove anything. He has chosen to love us just because we are His, and nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39).

Sometimes, in trying to be a better follower, we can become self-focused. We begin evaluating our actions, measuring our performance through our own eyes, and can then struggle with pride in our accomplishments. It makes us realize, no matter how hard we try, we will never meet God’s standard. In and of ourselves, our “goodness” will never “earn” us salvation.

Does that mean we should not even try to please Him? No, but it changes our motivation. We can strive to please Him like a child desires to please a parent. Of course, sometimes we think we know better about what is best, silly children that we are. But after getting bruised from bumping into reality, we can run back to Him.

What a wonderful picture of the relationship we have with Him, our all-knowing, all-wise, all-loving Father. As His child, if we recognize that we are no longer walking in obedience, we can come running back,tell Him we’re sorry, and He takes us back immediately. Why? Because He remembers we are dust. And He has chose to redeem us and love us just the same.

As we come to Him in prayer today, let’s each come as His little child. Let’s thank Him for accepting us, not because we are perfect, but simply because He has chosen us to be His. Then, out of gratitude for His love and mercy, we can aim to love and please Him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength (Mark 12:30). Because He loves us so..