To Live is Christ — without a headset

Contrite is an interesting word. The Oxford dictionary says it means to feel or express remorse. The Hebrew word used is dakah, and literally means “bruised.” This word is sometimes translated “humbled” or used with that word to convey the idea of a person who not only knows they are sinful, but feel great humility and remorse because of it. Like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar, they are head bowed and contrite.

For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart — these, O God, You will not despise. (Psalm 51:16–17)

Several other verses use the same word. All of them show that God is pleased with humble contrition.

For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. (Isaiah 57:15)

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. (Psalm 34:18)

For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,” says the Lord. “But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.” (Isaiah 66:2)

In his well-known book, Imitation of Christ, Thomas à Kempis stresses spiritual disciplines as vital toward a life that is like that of Jesus Christ. The author says about the discipline of solitude:

No man deserves the consolation of heaven unless he persistently arouses himself to holy contrition. If you desire true sorrow of heart, seek the privacy of your cell (referring to the room of a monk, but also any space where I can be alone) and shut out the uproar of the world, as it is written: “In your chamber bewail your sins.” There you will find what too often you lose abroad.

Earlier, the author of this classic book says that being with people and in the world drains our spirituality. We need to spend time alone with God to regain our sense of His will. In that solitude, we can open ourselves to His Spirit and allow Him to produce in us a true remorse for sin. This must lead to confession and repentance, and then, true to His promises, He cleanses us from that sin and changes our lives.

I know this is true. Over and over, I find my attitude reworked as God gets me alone and works in my heart. In the solitude of my home or on a long walk, He does not have to yell at me, as if He would anyway. He wants me to put myself in a place where I am better able to hear Him.

For that reason, I seldom have any background noise happening. If I picture Jesus coming to this world, I can see Him enjoying some of our conveniences, but when it comes time to tune into God, I cannot imagine Him praying with an earpiece attached to His head!

For that reason, my radio and television are usually turned off. I don’t own an I-pod and my cell phone is off too. These absences don’t make me contrite, but their presence would easily distract me. How can I hear His still small voice with other voices loud and blaring?

I know that His words will bruise. That is okay. It is not self-flagellation but a desire to be holy. I know that being first broken by the Word of God always leads me closer to Him and to a more Christ-honoring life.