Rend Collective is currently one of my favorite bands. I was very pleased to see that they wrote YouVersion reading plan. Below I am sharing a portion from Rend Collective's The Art Of Celebration plan that goes hand in hand with their recently released album by the same name.
We love quick results don't we? We are constantly fine-tuning every aspect of our lives to eliminate that despicable enemy known as "waiting."
So when we first meet Jesus, hopes are high. This is the God who crafted everything, from elephants to supernovas, cilantro to Everest in just seven days: surely he's going to transform us in an instant... like Ramen noodles of righteousness.
He could, but he often chooses not to.
He turned Paul's life around while on the Damascus road, right? Sure, but that was just the beginning. The refining process was still going on in that jail cell in Acts.
He gave the shepherd kid, David, mastery over a giant. But years later, as a man he failed to master his lust problem, giving in to adultery and worse, a murderous cover-up.
It's in the middle of this mess that he wrote Psalm 51.
"Create in me a clean heart"
I'm sure he was desperate for an immediate transformation of character. But that isn't what he got. The Lord is patient. David's heart was renewed by traveling the painful, winding roads of confession, accountability and repentance, in the company of the Holy Spirit. The Lord didn't shortcut the work of cleansing David's heart.
We may be frustrated with patterns of sin that repeat in our lives, our niggling character flaws and lack of discipline. We may want "one-click" holiness. But Jesus doesn't wave a magic wand of saintly character over us.
We can change. He will change us.
(For those unfamiliar with YouVersion, it's a Bible app with helpful tools such as word search, bible reading plans, and devotionals.)
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