Lately, as part of my morning devotions, I have been reading The New City Catechism: 52 Questions and Answers for Our Hearts and Minds (The Gospel Coalition)
This book is by far the most recent publication in a long history of catechisms throughout church history and, if you’ve never read a catechism before, I highly recommend it!
For those who feel like they’re now dipping into unchartered waters: a catechism is simply a collection of short questions and answers about the major tenants in the Christian faith. Perhaps one of the most famous questions that people know is found in the Westminster catechism: Q. What is the chief end of man? A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
Historically, pastors wrote catechisms for their church members, and the intent was that believers could both memorize and quickly restate what they believed and why. Handy, right?
The Q & A that I’ve been reflecting on lately is Question 37: How does the Holy Spirit help us? The answer begins as follows: “The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin…”
Man, as soon as I read that for the first time, I had to stop and put the book down.
I was overcome in that moment with how little my understanding of the Holy Spirit was.
Certainly, I can quote to you some of the well-known verses in Scripture that talk about the Holy Spirit as our comforter, our guide and even our intercessor. He is, after all, the helper that Jesus speaks of in John 14:16 when he says, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.”
How often, though, do we just see the role of the Holy Spirit as helper in terms of positive self-help?
I’m guilty of this.
When I’m exhausted after a long day at home with my toddler, I find myself praying to the Holy Spirit for strength to finish the day well. When I’ve been discouraged, I pray to God for the Spirit to give me joy and peace. And when I find myself on my knees, weeping, struggling to find the words to say, I’ve certainly asked the Spirit more than once to pray on my behalf.
There’s nothing wrong with any of these petitions, mind you.
But how often do I actually pray for the Holy Spirit to convict me of my sin?
To be honest, not enough.
The horrible, sad truth is that I don’t always think about myself as a sinner. I trick myself into thinking that I’m a fairly godly woman; that I exercise my spiritual disciplines with consistency and depth; and that I’m pretty capable of making the right decision in any given moment.
Ha!
How easily we can let our hearts fool us. Is this not why God tells us in Jeremiah 17:9 that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
This is exactly why we need to spend time every single day in prayer to the Holy Spirit, asking him to convict us of our sin. Because if we do not pray for his illumination, we will blind ourselves to the reality of our own sinful states.
I love this quote from the old, English pastor, Abraham Booth, who says this about our spiritual state: “Can you, O Christian, be cool and indifferent, be dull and careless, when the world, the flesh, and the devil are your implacable and unwearied opposers…[therefore] watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”
May we never take our sin too lightly, and may this reality compel us, in godly fear and trembling, to spend more time each day in prayer for the Holy Spirit to not only convict us of our sin, but also help us to turn far from it as well.
Holy Spirit, convict me of my sin today. I pray for your guidance and direction as you enlighten my mind and shine light into the dark corners of my life. Open my eyes to ways in which I am even ignorant of sinning and help me to turn from the sin of which I am cognizant, but do not have the strength to turn away from on my own. I confess my lack of faithfulness, my inconsistencies and my weaknesses. May you create in me even today a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me that I may strive to love God all the more and honor Him in my words, actions and thoughts. Amen.
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