Who may?

Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. (Psalm 15:1-2)

Who may worship in the presence of a holy God? Those who lead blameless lives - who do right and speak the truth they have been given by their loving heavenly Father. The first time I read this passage, I thought there was absolutely no hope for me because I was a sinner, not living blamelessly and not speaking God's truth, much less my own truth! Yet, as I read it time and time again, I found God reminding me of his grace, pointing me toward his finished work on the cross, and assuring my doubting heart that there is hope for the one who gives God access to their heart.

Blameless lives are more than just living 'above suspicion'. I made some pretty questionable choices in my younger life, no one really pointing the finger at me, but I was not blameless - I was just 'above suspicion'. Blameless lives are guilt-free. There might be questionable stuff that occurs within those lives, but because of the grace of a merciful and loving God, there is the ability to confess and live 'guilt-free'. As a teen, I struggled with acne, usually with large red blotches developing into 'Mount Vesuvius" on my face or the end of my nose. Those areas 'cleared up' in time, but not before they became quite obvious and embarrassing. Our sin is a bit like that - it develops and eventually exposes some ugly stuff - but it needs more than a 'clear up' to be totally gone. It needs an excision!

It is indeed a blessing to live 'unblemished' than it is to deal with the 'blemishes' of sin in our lives. The good news is that the blemish of sin doesn't have to remain. There is a way to excise it once and for all. We need the truth of his Word washing over our lives daily. We must listen to the still small voice of his Spirit within prompting us to make right and wise choices. We also must relinquish control of our willful pride and ask God to do within us what we have been unable to do within our own strength or 'will-power'. When we finally do that, we realize we are living what God calls 'blameless lives'. We have entered into fellowship with him and value the 'cleanliness' of living guilt-free under his grace. Just sayin!