Tuesday January 7
When Did I become a Monster?
Ps. 51: 1, 3, 4, 10 Have mercy on me, O God…for I recognize my shameful deeds… Against You alone have I sinned…Create in me a clean heart, O God.
The passage above is part of the prayer that David prayed when he sinned against God. Take some time out and read the whole psalm and when you have the time read the story again in 2 Samuel 11 and 12. David is one of the most admired persons in the Bible. Even God called him a man after God’s own heart! That is what makes it so hard to believe he would do the things he did; but the Bible does not cover them up. It tells us that David acted irresponsibly, coveted, betrayed his friend, committed adultery, lied and committed murder. Wow! What a monster! Could this really be the same David we have admired? Mmmhm! Same guy, unfortunately.
The truth is that Satan is always trying to get us to sin and he fights hardest against those who are known to be God’s committed children. If we become careless or too self confident and do not depend on God to help us fight we will lose the struggle; we will slip, then slide, then fall – drifting so far from what we should be that after a while we will not even recognize our own selves. We become monsters. But here is the good part. We can always go back to God. If God could forgive David He will also forgive you and me! No Matter what we have done. No matter what!
The important thing is to repent. Ah, but that is a little different than many people think. It is not enough to say “I am sorry, Lord. Please forgive me”. You have to be genuinely sorry; so sorry that if you could press “rewind” and go back to the same situation, you would not do it again. If we truly repent God will forgive us every time – even a zillion times! Isn’t that wonderful? That is what is known as grace. Let us repent genuinely, being sorry for our sins. If you find it hard ask God to help you to be really sorry. That is the secret of real repentance.
Lord, help me to be genuinely sorry for the wrong things I do that I may genuinely repent. Thank you for your promise of forgiveness, in Jesus’ name, amen.