I know that I talk a lot about living life on THE PATH. How do we get there? How do we know what path to start on? Psalm 51:1-2 NLT says, “Have mercy on m, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sin. Wash me clean from guilt. Purify me from sin.” I believe that David is saying and asking three different things from God.
First, he is acknowledging his sin. This is sometimes the hardest thing to do when we have to look into ourselves and identify the areas of our life that are sinful and throwback the curtains to let the light shine on them.
Second, we have to be willing to accept the consequences that may come from them. This area may seem difficult, but if we can change our perspective from. I have to accept the consequences to I get to accept the consequences then we can see it as a time and place that God is using to grow us into our true purpose.
Third, is turning the other way. In the Roman military, the word repent (about face) was used as a command to the troops to turn 180 degrees and go the other way. When we repent of our sins we are in essence turning away from the path we are on and starting down a new path. A path free from guilt.
I can remember when I was in bootcamp and learning how to do close order drill. When we where given the command about face we were expected to turnaround in mid march. At first, this was not really graceful for any of us. We where all out of sink with each other. Some could not make the full turn; some people turned so far that they ended up facing the same way again, and some didn’t even turn around. But our drill instructors never stopped teaching and encouraging us to do better, and over time we all became better at it, and eventually, we were all able to make the turn in unison and looked liked a well-oiled machine. The same is true with us and our relationships with our Heavenly Father. He keeps on encouraging us and teaching us and sometimes the lessons are difficult just like the lessons my drill instructors taught me. It takes time for us shed off the sins of this world and learn to walk in unison with God, but over time and never giving up, we can and will. This is what living a life on THE PATH looks like.
The Forge 