August 4

Read: Psalms 25:1-6

Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed (Psalms 25:1-2).

It Is Better To Try Again

In my hours of sincere self-examination I ask God to look into my heart to see if there is any wicked way in me. What shall I do when God shows me that sin has again stained my soul? It is better to try to do right, to fail, to repent, and to try again than never to try at all. It is better to believe that God can give me victory over temptation than to believe that sin must always win the victory over me.

My goal and my prayer are for a life above sin. If I have failed, the failure has been in me. At some point I walked away from Christ instead of drawing closer to Him. As I look back, can I recognize the place where I began to draw away? The place where I should have moved closer to Him?

Did I forget that high moment of consecration when I turned my whole life over to God? Did I fail in my full dependence upon divine power? What then shall I do? Give up my goal? Forget my prayer? Deny my faith? No. Rather I start again toward my goal. I revive my hope. I reassert my faith. I begin again this moment walking in the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer For Today

Do not forsake me, gracious Lord, for trees of deepest root are torn up by the violence of the storm, and lofty, firm mountains are rent asunder by the force of the earthquake. Suffer me not, therefore, gracious Lord, to be tempted above that I am able to bear, for Thou art faithful and good, lest my soul be shamed. I pray not for my flesh, being well aware that it must suffer and die in time, but this alone I ask: Strengthen me in warfare; assist and keep me, make a way for me to escape in temptation; deliver me, and let me not be put to shame, for I put my trust in Thee.

— Menno Simons, Founder Of The Mennonites