Ask what you will, O Christian – Thomas Brooks

“Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” Psalm 51:2

If the Lord should say to a gracious Christian, “Ask what you will, O Christian and it shall be granted to you.” The answer would be: “Lord, rid me of my sins! Lord, take
away my iniquities! Lord, mortify my corruptions! Lord, whoever lives, let these lusts die! Lord, drown these Egyptians in the sea of your Son’s blood, who have so violently and unweariedly pursued after the blood of my precious soul! Lord, kill and crucify all these sinful evils that have killed and crucified the Lord of life and glory! Lord, my carnal reason, and flesh and blood, would gladly have such and such pleasurable sins, and such and such profitable sins, indulged and spared. But, Lord, the earnest, the ardent desires of my soul are that I may be rid of them!”

And thus every gracious soul is more willing to be rid of his sins than he is to keep his sins.

A sick man is not more willing to be rid of his disease, nor a beggar of his nasty lousy rags, nor a prisoner of his chains than a gracious soul is willing to be rid of his lusts!