Hugging A Dirty Kid

Often we allow our sin to keep us from God.  We know that our God is a holy God who cannot stand the sight of sin.  So we fall into the lie that we have to clean ourselves up before we can go before God.  Meditate on this illustration. 

We are God’s children.  What do kids do from time to time?  They go outside and play in the mud and the muck and get dirty beyond belief.  Now a toddler knows no better when she sees her daddy standing there and runs up to give him a hug covered from head to toe in mud.  A good father does not back away and tell her to go get herself cleaned up and then come and offer a hug.  Instead, he offers himself, arms wide open, and gives her a big bear hug.  Afterwards, he takes her inside helps her get the muddy cloths off, puts her in the tub and scrubs all the icky grime off, dries her off, and puts her into a clean pair of cloths.

Likewise, our heavenly Father knows that we cannot become clean without His help.  So He eagerly listens to us and holds us in His arms.  He then takes us and cleans us.  It may hurt a little getting the dirt off but when He is done we will look like His child again.  That is until we need another bath from Him.

So now that we know our dirtiness won’t keep us from God what will?  The answer to that is our stiffness.  Sticking with the idea of being God’s child, think about the last time you tried to hug a kid that was stiff and didn’t want to be hugged.  Our stiffness and unwillingness to be hugged by God is what destroys our prayer life, not our sin.

Now one of my favorite hymns has always been Come, Thou Fount by Robert Robinson.  Take a moment and listen to it by clicking on the video to the left.

Now this song has a sad story that accompanies the author.  Robinson came to faith in Christ when he was 17 years old after hearing George Whitefield preach.  A few years later he became a minister and wrote this hymn among others.  Years passed and later in his life he reverted to many of the sins of his youth.  Then one day while riding in a coach he heard his hymn being sung and a woman riding with him asked his thoughts on the hymn.  His response was that he was the poor wretch that wrote the song and that he would give everything he had to experience the peace that he felt when he wrote it. 

It is so sad that he allowed himself to not experience the peace of God because He was unwilling to swallow his pride and fall on his knees before God.  Some of the greatest prayers ever prayed have been prayers of contrite hearts asking God for forgiveness and help to live under His strength!  Don’t allow pride and stiffness to keep you from God.  God doesn't need your righteousness, He doesn't need anything from you.  But what He does desire is childlike love, given without hesitation no matter our state.

“The Scriptures assure us: ‘A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench’ (Isaiah 42:3).  David, in the midst of the most horrible of sins, understood that ‘a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise’ (Psalm 51:17).

**Much of the insight for this post came from the book

Approaching God: How To Pray by Steve Brown

in the chapter with the same title as this post.**