Sin has a tendency to be pleasurable for only a moment in time but in its wake, once the fire of pleasure and passion has burnt, all that’s left is an ash heap of misery, shame, and regret.
David repents and cries out for God’s forgiveness; He cries out to be made clean!
Just as a giant tree can be reduced to ash, so too can sin reduce great men and great women.
King David… This giant-killer; this man after God’s own heart, was reduced by his sin to a man groveling as it were in an ash-heap of remorse. So what is left for him to do? He can but throw himself on the mercy of God: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion” (Psalm 51:1).
Friend, as you journey... the Holy Spirit may highlight some of those “ashes” in your life... You look at where you are today, and all you see are the ashes of something that was once great, or beautiful, but now is lackluster, to say the least. You can identify with David and what he was feeling.
… sin brings with it ashes of death, shame, and guilt in our lives. The interesting thing is this - the answer to those ashes (sin, guilt, shame), is another tree: A tree that was planted firmly on a hill called Calvary; a tree upon which the son of the living God willingly died so that you and I can experience life; the cross which testifies to God’s love.
“While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).
May we take up our crosses and follow him to his. It is there that he will give us a crown of beauty instead of ashes. It is there that our ashes of death can be exchanged for the gift of eternal life…
(Extract from “Pictures of the Passion: A Visual Journey to Calvary” – Pages 20-21)
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