Proverbs 22:17-29, Proverbs 23:1-16, Psalm 119:1-40

Psalm 119:32 – I will run in the way of your commands, for you have set me heart free!

Lord God, I would love to run with my feet the paths of mountains and valleys, plains and plateaus, but there is so much holding me back. My fitness. My health. My physiology. Even my own desire; I just don’t want to. That’s the way I feel about you commands. I want to run in the path of your commands, but there is so much holding me back. I am held back by guilt and shame for the way I have behaved in the past and how I have failed to measure up to the glory of your commands. I am held back by the pressure of the expectations; it’s hard to perform under pressure. I am even held back by my own sinful weakness! I am so frail, so sinful, so weak. But Lord, Jesus, your mercies are new this morning. You have set my heart free from the pressure of expectation by meeting all of God’s expectations for me. There is nothing I have to do to meet God’s expectations. They have all already been met. You have set my heart free from the fear of punishment by suffering my punishment in my place. There is no more punishment for me. More! You have even given me your Holy Spirit to work in me to will and to act according to your good pleasure. Yes, Lord, I will run because you have set my heart free! Amen.