As a Christian, I don’t generally make a practice of sinning. On the other hand, I haven’t exactly “arrived” at perfection either, so it still happens sometimes. Lately, I have started to feel a bit of shock at myself when it does. I mean, twelve years into the born-again life, shouldn’t I be matured to the point in which knowing better would translate to doing better? Alas, I have not. This weekend, another incident brought me front and center at the feet of Jesus once again. I was frustrated at myself and wondered if He ever gets tired of hearing “I’m sorry.” A sign in the sky assured me that the Lord loves us and follows His own advice about forgiveness. He will grant it to those who ask.
My Sin
Without being specific, I will just say that I did something. It’s something that would not be any kind of sin at all for a lot of people, but the Lord has dealt with me specifically in this area. It was basically stepping just over a line that He had drawn for me in the interest of saving the little bit of time and hassle that it would have taken for me to do things His way. It took under a minute to do it, and the whole time the commentary in my head assured me that my actions made complete sense and were perfectly fine.
Of course, the moment it was done, the Holy Spirit’s conviction started tapping. “Excuse me, but haven’t we had this discussion before?” The minutes and minutes of guilt, repentance, and reflection that followed erased any possible time saved, so that was one more lesson that I can add to the many that the Lord has taught me over the years. Doing things God’s way is absolutely the way to save time!
Seventy Times Seven
“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, ‘I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, until seventy times seven.’”
Matthew 18:21-22
My frustration was real. Shouldn’t I be past this nonsense already? Doesn’t the Lord get tired of seeing me fail? But, then I remembered that until we receive our glorified bodies and get rid of our sin natures, sins will continue to plague us. After all, life is a messy business. Nobody gets off sin-free for very long (especially when thoughts and attitudes count in the tally). 1 John 1:8 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
In the meantime, Jesus has instructed us to forgive others “seventy times seven times.” That’s another way to say, “as many as it takes.” We must forgive others every single time, and we can expect the Lord to forgive us just often. After all, He has made us a promise. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
A Sign in the Sky
A couple of hours later as I started the drive to Sunday evening’s church service, I had a thought that I should take a different route than I usually take. As I drove, I was still thinking about the whole incident. Just as I asked the Lord what His thoughts were on the situation, the light up ahead turned red. I stopped and looked just above the light and was shocked at what I saw.
The Lord Grants Forgiveness
I don’t believe for one single moment in coincidences, and that gray heart in the clouds spoke loud and clear to me. The Lord loves His children. He never gets tired of cleaning us back up when we make a mess of things. He follows His own advice about forgiveness, stands by His promise, and removes our sins “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12). Our loving God and Father grants forgiveness to those who ask.
If you want to forgive but don’t know how, try reading 3 Steps to Forgive From the Heart. Please subscribe in the upper right corner (or at the bottom on a phone). Also, check out my YouTube Channel. There, I read my blogs out loud and have a playlist of hymns from my church. Far from boring, they are fast, sassy, and anointed hymns and gospel songs.
