The Real Problem Is…

“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.”-Lamentations 3:40-

Recently I ran into our local Wal-Mart to buy some ink for our printer. I don’t understand why the ink costs more than the printer, but that’s not my point. Anyway, as I was heading down the aisle, I saw some shorts for sale. Summer was just around the corner, I could use a pair of shorts, and they cost all of ten bucks. So I grabbed a pair of size 42 shorts off the rack and put them in my basket. The next day, I put on my new shorts and immediately realized they were a little tight. I mean, I could get them buttoned, but that poor button was hanging on for dear life.
Do you know my first thoughts as to why the short’s didn’t fit? Well, here’s what I didn’t think. I didn’t think, Huh, I must have put on a few pounds over the winter. I didn’t think, I guess I haven’t really been watching what I eat. I never even considered for a moment that the shorts were too tight because something was wrong with me. Instead, I thought, Well, I guess you get what you pay for. Wal-Mart must have wrongly measured these shorts.
Here’s my point: Pointing our finger in the wrong direction will keep us from addressing the actual issue. The ability to deny ourselves begins with an honest assessment of where any problems lie. After all, why would you want (or even need) to surrender or sacrifice if everything in your life was already in order? Why would you need to make a life change if you aren’t the one at fault? Who would expect you to admit a wrongdoing if someone else is to blame? Denying ourselves means realizing the truth that “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). It requires acknowledging that we are not excluded from the “all who have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). It demands praying this risky prayer of King David: “Search me, God, and know my heart” (Psalm 139:23).
Denying myself starts with looking in life’s dressing room mirror and admitting that the problem is not with the shorts.

DENYING TODAY
Read 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. Have you ever been “deceived” in some area of your life, denying that the problem is with you? Pray out loud this short prayer from Psalm 139: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (vv. 23-24). Now listen. Have ears to hear. What truth about you is God revealing? Don’t sugarcoat it or mince words. Write it down, and surrender it today to Him.