Forgive Our Crumbs and Hand-me-downs

Lord, do we cause so many problems in this world  

     because we have forgotten who You are?

Have we forgotten to fear Your mighty, awesome power?   

Have we forgotten to take our shoes off to show respect

     for You and the Holy ground on which we stand

     when we come into Your Presence?  

Or do we come before You begrudgingly and disrespectfully,

     with dirty hands and feet that are unfit to serve You?

Are we ceremonially unclean?

Have we forgotten to prepare our hearts to make them suitable,

     welcoming dwelling places for Your Holy Spirit?

Are we truly grateful for the cost of our eternal life

     or do we take it for granted and fail to thank You

     for caring enough to reach out to us sacrificially

     giving us the greatest love we will ever know?

Have we forgotten that the Son of Man willingly, obediently,

     died to redeem us from  the darkness of death’s eternity?

Have we forgotten that You can rock our world

     anytime You want and shake us up to get our attention?

Have we become so absorbed in our own self-importance

     that we see You as being made in our pitiful image

     instead of believing  that we are made in Your image,

     to serve You and bring glory to Your name.

Lord, have we forgotten the importance of having a humble spirit?

How dare we be so pompous and so full of ourselves

     that we would think we might usurp Your position   

     and so proud that we might think of ourselves as God! 

Lord, forgive us for not giving You the honor and respect we should.

Forgive us for putting You last when we should put You first.

Forgive us for giving You our left-overs,

     our crumbs, our hand-me-downs,

     when we should give You our first fruits,

     the first of our time, the first of our money,

     the first of our love, the first of our talents,

     the first of our attention, the first of all our resources.

Impress on us the need and the joy of giving You first place

     in our hearts and in our lives.

Lord, lead us back into fellowship with You.

Make us worthy of all that You have given us;

      let us be who and what You want us to be.

Guide and direct us to do what You want us to do.

Thank You for the blessings You continue to bestow

     upon us even when we fail to appreciate or deserve them.

Thank You for loving us in spite of ourselves.