Conviction - 3 June 2009

“When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgement: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgement, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” John16:8-11

God’s Holy Spirit provides, amongst other things, conviction.  This passage talks of conviction for the world; that comes in part through the work of the Spirit in every individual.  It is the Spirit that can show us where we have erred; where wrong choices may have been made; where sin has entered in.

We are very good (I certainly am) at rationalising our actions when we are not sure if we have done what we ought; or know for sure when we haven’t.  We make excuses for ourselves, provide some sort of justification that sounds good to us; mitigating circumstances are found far too often.

If we stop listening to our self-denial, and listen to the prompting of the Spirit in our hearts, then we more easily know when we have not done or said what might be the right thing (in God’s eyes).

Today, in a time of quiet, ask God through his Spirit to show you where you have fallen short of God’s standard; then ask and receive his forgiveness.

Lord, help us to make right choices, especially when choosing between what we ought to do and what we might want to do; give us the desire to follow your ways more closely, and help us own up to you when we get it wrong.

Amen