BE BOLD

BOLD.  We hear this a lot today.  Just a quick Google search of “Be Bold” yields everything from Blackberry Phones to adventurous photos to memes telling us to “Keep Calm and Be Bold.”  So we are challenged by the world of advertisement and social media to be bold.  I must admit; its simplicity is quite catchy. 

But if you really want to be bold today, pray the words found in Psalm 139:23-24. 

(23) Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  (24) See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

David begins this beautiful Psalm with a clear proclamation that God knows all about us: “you know when I sit and when I rise.”  God knows all of our innermost thoughts, He knows all of our secrets, our dreams, our desires, our goals . . . that can be kind of scary huh? David continues on and declares that no matter where we go, God is there: “If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”

Since God is omnipresent (everywhere) and omniscient (all knowing) we have absolutely nothing to hide from him, and as scary as they may be at times . . . it truly should be a good thing.  We should be able to pray “Search me O God and know my heart.”  We need to ask God to examine us, to see if our devotion and our character is true.  We need to ask God to search us and reveal to us if there is anything offensive within us and if there is, we need to ask him to destroy those offenses and “cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

When we openly seek God’s heart, and allow Him to purify us we are led down the “way everlasting.” Then we can trust wholeheartedly in and rejoice in David’s words from Psalm 16: 9-11:

(9)Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, (10) because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.  (11)You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Do you want to be bold?  Pray honestly to God and ask Him to search your heart and to purify your heart.  That is bold.  

**Image courtesy of Graceway Media