Conviction

Lent Day 18: Today I battle for conviction of sin

Jesus, I recently had a memory come up that I haven’t thought about since high school. What do you think about that time when I was 17, and my friends and I served on a team for a weekend teen retreat? Students signed up to pray throughout the retreat, and there was a portion of time when our team prayed together. Several of us had a similar experience of being so convicted of our sins and what it cost Jesus to take the punishment in our place. I specifically remember imagining the feeling of nails going into my wrists. We were spread out in the room and just sobbing, for maybe 15 minutes. It was not beautiful, and probably appeared to the adult leaders like chaos and panic attacks. Someone eventually yelled out we needed to calm down and get it together, and we did. We had no category of religious experiences to put it in, and no one really talked about it again.

Jesus, I wonder if the gift in that bizarre weekend was conviction of sin. I felt so much sadness for your physical pain in the crucifixion, that I knew your love in a deeper way. I held a fresh motivation to avoid sin and separation from you.

So Jesus, I want to ask you to have mercy on us. Free us! Free us from the burden and weight of our sins! Give us the grace of conviction of our sins. Give us eyes to see the reality of the effect of sin. Help us to overcome our tendencies and choices that grieve you, that separate us from you and others. Help us to care! We are broken people and helpless without you. Have mercy, Jesus. I pray in your name, Amen.

Psalm 51: 10, 12 “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me…restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.” Amen.