The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

Genesis 3:15

This morning the pastor at the church in Phoenix where we attended challenged his congregation to take responsibility for their lives. We tend to blame God, others, and our circumstances when things in our lives don’t exactly go as planned, when the person at fault in many situations is, in my case, me – my sin, my choices, my mistakes.

So many of my failures are rooted in times when my life wasn’t aligned with God’s best for me, in a way that is very similar to Adam’s response in the verse above. Although he sinned by disobeying God, he attempted to blame God and the woman instead of taking responsibility for his sin.

The proper response is to take responsibility for my actions and taking ownership begins with repentance and is followed by a personal response.

I have probably referred to this song before, but “Make My Life a Prayer to You” is just as meaningful today as it was when I first heard it as a teenager. If anything, it is more powerful to me today.

Make my life a prayer to you
I wanna do what you want me to
No empty words and no white lies
No token prayers no compromise

I wanna shine the light you gave
Through your son, you sent to save us
From ourselves and our despair
It comforts me to know you’re really there

Well I wanna thank you know
For being patient with me
Oh it’s so hard to see
When my eyes are on me
I guess I’ll have to trust
And just believe what you say
Oh you’re coming again
Coming to take me away

I wanna die and let you give
Your life to me so I might live
And share the hope you gave me
The love that set me free

I wanna tell the world out there
You’re not some fable or fairy tale
That I’ve made up inside my head
You’re God the son and you’ve risen from the dead