But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead.
-Acts 3:14-15
Gracious Father who sends the Holy and Righteous Son, the one who gifts us with the indwelling Spirit, the presence of the Son and the Father,
How shall I confess to you? The blood of the author of all life is yet on my hands. Yet to those who acknowledge their guilt to you and do not cover their iniquities, you grant everlasting mercy. To those who see the blood of Christ is on their hands and turn to you in repentance and faith in him, this blood does not stain, but cleanses away every stain. Yet, to those who deny it, who hide their filthy, drenched hands, this blood cries out for everlasting vengeance. For, we come to Jesus, “the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Truly his blood is on the hands of all men. May this untouchable blood bring the agony of repentance to us all, that it may speak a better word: redemption.
Yet how easy it is to look away. The blood on my hands traces the painted path of my distraction. In prayer, my thoughts stray from you. So too In worship. My mind drifts from the Author of life to the wonders his hand has wrought. Marvelous indeed is your creation, Lord, and you are to be praised for it. Yet, let me never rest satisfied in less than you. Forgive me for my settling, my low expectations and my wanderlust heart. I am yours alone, bought and paid for by the precious blood that cleanses these filthy hands.
God, forgive us all, for we are “far too easily pleased.”
Doxology
Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands, robed in the blooming garb of spring: Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer who makes the woeful heart to sing.
-Fairest Lord Jesus, Anonymous German Hymn
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