Cleansing the Guilty Conscience

“There is no greater burden in this world than the guilt of our sin. Other burdens weary the feet or the back; this burden wearies the soul. People who abhor the idea of a blood-shedding God may write platitudes about the goodness of man. People may say that we are finding our destiny out of a Darwinian soup. Perhaps we are not yet what we might be, but we are certainly not guilty, they insist. But in a moral universe ruled by a holy God, such words will not wash away the reality of the things we have done.

If you come to recognize how your words have torn the hearts of others as knives tear the flesh; if you think for just a moment how your neglect of duty and selfish pursuit of gain have meant sorrow and woe for real people; if you merely ask how many men and women in this world have real cause to resent you, to wish you had never crossed their paths; if you take stock of God’s holy and unyielding law and your incessant violation of it, then your conscience will speak against you about what you really are and deserve. You will crave a cleansing such as Christ alone can give.”

- Richard D. Phillips
HT: First Importance