We tend to think of sin as we see it in rags and in the gutters of life. We look at a drunkard, poor fellow, and we say, there is sin. But that is not the essence of sin. To have a real picture and understanding of sin, you must look at some great saint, some unusually devout and devoted man, look at him there on his knees in the very presence of God. Yet, even there self can intrude itself, and a temptation to think about oneself, to think pleasantly and pleasurably about oneself as though to worship oneself. That, not the other, is the true picture of sin. The other is sin, of course, but there you do not see it in its essence.
As I bend my knee in prayer
I bow my head and speak from within
Lord, may I not think only of me
Let me be sincere and free of sin.
Let me not display sin in its essence
For I am empty without Thee
I am just honored that I know love
From the Holy God of eternity.
Copyright 2006 by Jettie C. Hess
