“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
Psalm 51:10 (NIV)
In the wake of Pope Francis’s passing on Easter Monday, 2025, I found myself researching his life and legacy. One detail stood out: his quiet yet determined efforts to prevent the Vatican from financial bankruptcy. He lived simply, stewarded wisely, and led with integrity. But his example stirred a deeper question in me, contrasting financial bankruptcy with spiritual bankruptcy.
Financial bankruptcy is a declaration of insolvency, loss of assets and credit, a cry for help and restructuring, and a need for external intervention.
In the same way, we can experience spiritual bankruptcy – a recognition of our need for God, a loss of self-sufficiency, a cry for mercy and grace.
Do you recall the prodigal son who demanded his inheritance early, left home, and squandered everything in reckless living? When a famine hits, he finds himself broke, hungry, and working among pigs — an unclean and humiliating job for a Jew. In that moment of desperation, he realises his spiritual and moral bankruptcy. He decides to return to his father, not expecting restoration, but hoping to be treated as a servant.
This account beautifully illustrates that spiritual bankruptcy is not the end — it can be the beginning of restoration when we return to our Heavenly Father.
If you feel spiritually depleted today due to a hectic schedule, multiple commitments, a health diagnosis, or little space for quiet time with God, confess that you are not bankrupt. God is waiting to create a pure heart and renew a right spirit in you. There is still time to deepen your spiritual investments — through prayer, service, and renewed faith in God’s love — to set your life back on track.
Create space for the God who restores. This must always be our prayer. Amen.
Read: Isaiah 57:15; Philippians 1:6
Bible Reading Guide: Psalm 74:10-17; Acts 10:24-48; Acts 11:1-18; I Kings 1; I Kings 2:1-12