Disposition

“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'” Luke 15:21 (NIV)

There is power in the recognition of your true disposition. You can shroud your persona with a facade that exudes perfection while your inner life embodies disarray. Disguising the reality of your inner self has the potential to delay being found out. However, the manifestation of your true disposition will appear at some point. God has a way of exposing our current reality.

“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” 
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” Gen 3:8-10 (NIV)

When God asked Adam and Eve, “Where are you?” He was not perplexed that He had misplaced the crown of His creation. His question was not one of confusion related to an inability to find the couple that He created. His question was to heighten their recognition of their true disposition. God wanted Adam and Eve to recognize their current reality.

After Isaiah encountered God’s holiness, he came face to face with his true disposition. A new standard of measurement became his conscious defining moment. Notice Isaiah’s response:

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Isaiah 6:5 (NIV)

The prodigal son identified his true disposition and responded with the confession, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”

Consider the holiness of God. Are you sensing a need for confession in light of His holiness and your true disposition? His purity exposes our sinfulness. He graciously offers forgiveness.

Pursuing God,

Stephen Trammell
Pastor of Leadership and Pastoral Care