"SINFUL"

During his 1864 presidential election campaign President Abraham Lincoln was riding in a stage coach with a few of his campaign contributors. One of those contributors was a wealthy Kentucky colonel. After riding a number of miles together, the colonel took a bottle of whiskey out of his pocket and said; "Mr. President, won't you take a drink with me?"

"No thank you Colonel," replied Mr. Lincoln, "I never drink whiskey."

They rode along together for a number of miles more, visiting very pleasantly, when the gentleman from Kentucky reached into his pocket and brought out some cigars, saying; "Now, Mr. President, if you won't take a drink with me, won't you take a smoke with me? For here are some of Kentucky's finest cigars."

"Now, Colonel," replied the President, "you are such a fine, agreeable man to travel with, maybe I ought to take a smoke with you. But before I do so, let me tell you a story, an experience I had when I was a boy."

 President Lincoln began; "My mother called me to her bed one day, when I was about nine years old. She was sick, very sick, and she said to me, “Abe, the doctor tells me that I am not going to get well. I want you to promise me before I go that you will never use whiskey nor tobacco as long as you live.” President Lincoln continued by saying; “I promised my mother I never would. And up to this hour, Colonel, I have kept that promise. Now would you advise me to break that promise to my angel mother and take a smoke with you?"

The Colonel put his hand on Mr. Lincoln's shoulder and said with a voice trembling with emotion; "No, Mr. President, I wouldn't have you do it for the world. It was one of the best promises you ever made. I would give a thousand dollars today if I had made my mother a promise like that and had kept it as you have done."

Alas, don’t we all wish we could keep all of our promises to our mothers and fathers and the Almighty God. Just think of the heartache, sorrow and grief we could have avoided.

A couple of days ago I heard someone use the old French cliché; “You made your bed, now lie in it.” That statement makes me cringe. The mindset promotes the idea that if you make a wrong choice, you are forever stuck with the consequences. I don’t know about each of you, but I’ve made some bad decisions. I mean championship caliber sinful decisions! I've made mistakes in my relationships, attitude, speech, finances, career, and in a million other ways. I’ve been a Christ-follower for years and years but still, I cannot count the times I’ve found myself in a mess by my own making. If I got what I deserved, I’d have a front row reservation waiting for me in Hell’s smoking section. Thank God for His mercies as I'm always in need!

As I study the Scriptures, one of the things I admire most about King David is his honesty. There were exceptions, but on David’s best days he was a man of candor. David called things the way he saw them and he didn’t attempt to make things seem better than they were. In Psalm 38 we find David in a mess of his own making. We don’t know for sure what he’d done, but we know 'ol David was suffering the consequences. According to the text, David was:

1) Facing God’s wrath (Psalm 38:1)

2) Suffering from physical problems (Psalm 38:3-8)

3) Experiencing depression (Psalm 38:9-10)

4) Abandoned by friends (Psalm 38:10-11)

5) Dealing with political enemies (Psalm 38:12)

6) Out of strength (Psalm 38:13-14)

7) Sorry for his sin (Psalm 38:18)

When other people have wronged us, it’s natural or us to cry out to God for vindication. After all, God is a God of justice. But what about when we are the offender? What happens when we are the guilty party?

God's Good Book makes it clear David understood he’d sinned. David didn’t ask for God’s help on the basis that he deserved it. Clearly, he didn’t. Instead, David confessed his sin (38:18), waited for the Lord (38:15), begged God not to forsake him (38:21), asked for God’s help (38:22), and requested that he be spared from God’s wrath (38:1). In short, David asked God for mercy.

While God's grace and mercy are somewhat similar, there is a significant difference despite their being used interchangeably. God’s mercy can be described as God not giving sinners what we deserve, while God's grace is giving sinners what we do not deserve!

Like King David, we would be wise to make a habit of asking God for his mercy. Thankfully, the Bible is not a book that promotes the idea, “You made your bed, now lie in it.” Jesus destroyed that notion at Calvary. Plain and simple, we Christians do not get what we deserve because of God's saving grace and His mercy to forget our sins. Jesus took what we deserve on the cross. And that should make us the most merciful people on the planet. When we foul up let’s not try to hide it. Let’s be quick to plead for the mercy Jesus died to give us. And let’s be sure to contemplate His mercy long enough for it to change us.

Whether we are on a first name basis with the bottom of the deck or we have horns holding up our halos, "the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases and His mercies never come to an end but are renewed each and every morning." (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Heavenly Father, thank You for being a God of mercy, grace, love and forgiveness. Thank You for blessing us with Your mercies when we make bad and sinful decisions. Thank You for Your saving grace to redeem us for eternity despite our sinful nature. Lord, remind us daily we can avoid a ton of misery if we "Don't Let the Devil Ride" because he will end up driving and taking us too far. But Lord, thank You for loving us so very much we can never go too far to put us out of reach of Your mercy and forgiveness!