Minute Meditations

The governor of a southern state was touring the state penitentiary interviewing the prisoners. Each one he interviewed was bitter and showed no remorse. They all blamed their incarceration on someone else. One said that it was not his fault, it was the judge who was prejudiced against him. Another complained that it was his attorney who had let him down. One young man blamed his mother, while another said his teachers at school had failed him. When the governor spoke to George, he was surprised to hear him admit that he had committed a crime and had been caught. He explained that he was sorry for what he had done and hoped someday to prove to society that he had learned his lesson for the mistakes he had made.

The governor was so impressed with this confession that he returned to the state capital and wrote out a full pardon for George. In his note that he sent to the prison warden, he explained that he was giving George a pardon to get this guilty man away from all those innocent people still in prison.

It is interesting how every man is right in his own eyes, just as Solomon said. Few people can be forgiven because few are willing to admit that they were wrong in the first place. John tells us, ”If we confess our sins (only if we confess them), he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

When God confronted Adam, he immediately blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. This is one of the reasons why the false doctrine of a supernatural personal devil is so popular. ”The devil made me do it” is appealing, but it is a lie.

We need to accept the responsibility for our own lives and actions. The Lord’s prayer teaches us to confess our sins. Instead of blaming others, we should ask God to be merciful to us, for we are sinners.

Jesus described two men who went into the temple to pray. One only prayed with himself. He told God how wonderful he was. His prayer was filled with 1’s. The other man’s prayer began with God and asked for forgiveness. His prayer was answered while the other man’s was not. The Pharisee’s prayer did not even require an answer, for he was simply bragging.

We need to remember that there is none righteous, no, not one. ”If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?”

Let us thank God that He is willing to separate us from our sins as far as the east is from the west. Had He said, the north from the south, there would have been a limit to His mercy because we can travel west forever and never run into the east.

Soon Jesus will return. He will reject all those who are bitter and blame others for their sins. Only those who have confessed and been forgiven will be granted his full pardon and be invited to live and reign with him on this earth forever.