"The Motivation"

"Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin." (Psalms 51:2) How bad do I want to be right with God? What makes me want it? First and foremost, my sin separates me from God, I understand that, and I do not want to let anything get between God and myself; but is that the only factor that motivates me to make things right? I hope not! I do not what my motivation to be one of protection and provision, as if I only want to be close to God so that He will take care of me; that's a lot like a child that only sticks around the house to be cared for by their parents, even up into their late adulthood; they are not there because they love their parents so much that they can't leave home, they are there for their parents to provide a place for them to feel secure. God wants us to love Him! My motivation must be based upon love, which is my desire to be close to the One that I love, because He loves me so so much! So in a way, yes that is a main factor which motivates me to make things right, but it is not thee factor, because thee factor involves love, and love does not seek reward! What does it mean to completely surrender our life to God? Think about that for a moment, and ask yourself what if anything can you take into complete surrender? Better yet, what do you expect to bring out of it? "Spiritual Cleansing" is all that matters! "God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth". (John 4:24) God cannot change a heart that does not want to be changed, and the only way that we can love God is by having a changed heart; we can pretend that we love Him, but that will not be the truth, and Jesus said we "must" worship Him in truth. So my next question has to do with "spirit", and what does it mean to worship God in spirit? Well, in the text above, the "Spirit" and "spirit" are one of the same; they are the same word, which refers to both God's Spirit and our spirit in the same expression. My spirit is lost without God's Spirit! Do we totally understand that concept? If we do, do we understand why we need redemption? This is probably the only thing by which we must meet God half way... "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18)