rend your hearts.

"rend" by jimmy needham



"you've been tarnished
you've been stained
all the varnish you used to cover up with is peeling away
even now return to me with nothing less than your wounded broken heart"

when i first heard this song, i thought of a verse i had recently read in Jeremiah.

"Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord." Jer. 2:22

there's no doubt we are dirty, wicked, evil people. and something else Scripture teaches us- there is nothing we can do to clean ourselves! we can cover ourselves in varnish, it will peel away. we can scrub with soap, the stains are still there. Ephesians 2:1-10, Colossians 2:13-14, and Titus 3:3-7 are just a few of the passages that remind us of our former selves and make it clear that it is by grace we have been saved. God made us alive together with Christ. a dead person cannot raise themselves, life has to be given to them. a blind person cannot give themselves sight, sight must be given to them. a sick person cannot heal themselves, it must be given to them to be healed. and so a corrupt heart cannot chose to become clean, a new heart must be given to them.

"And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' I said to you in your blood, 'Live!'....Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk." Ezekiel 16:6 & 9-10

and what an amazing thing it is, that God would take us while we were still sinning, while we were wallowing in our blood, and give us life, forgive our sins, count us as righteous and give us a new heart! and now He can say to us,

"You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you." Song of Solomon 4:7