Today's encouragement comes from Psalm 66:18. There, David penned these words:
"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear."This verse (above) does not mean, "If I am tempted by iniquity, the Lord will not hear." It also does not mean, "If the devil puts an ugly or unclean thought into my heart [or mind], the Lord will not hear."
Instead, it means, "If I love sin in my heart, and will not repent of it, but value it over my love for Christ; and want its 'pleasures' more than the true joys and riches of Jesus—the Lord will not hear."
May we love God in Jesus Christ, and hate sin. Indeed, if we love God, we *will* despise everything opposed to Him. (Conversely, if we love sin, we will not love God.)
[Puritan quote of the day: "It has been truly and justly observed, that our whole religion fares according to our Sabbaths [viz. keeping of them], that poor Sabbaths make poor Christians, and that a strictness in our Sabbaths inspires a vigor into all our other duties.” —Cotton Mather, New England Pur-itan]
