Fearing My Sin

I'm writing this to share something of who I am with folk. I'm not good at this since I usually don't share something of who I am with folk. So, if you're not interested in getting to know me better just skip this post.

One of the highlights of each day is my morning prayers. I'll skip lots of things for good (and sometimes bad) reasons, but it is incredibly rare for me to miss my morning prayer time. I get to talk with my Father. How good is that! Now, I talk with Him throughout the day. But this is different. It's a little more special.

I usually include this triad in my prayers: guidance, protection, correction. I'm just going to talk about 'correction'. Maybe I'll come back to the others some other time. I've been a Christian for a good bit of time and, because of the great patience and persistence of the Spirit, I've learned some things over that time. One is that I am a sinner. That is no longer just a doctrine that I'm supposed to believe. This is something that I know to be true. And that's because I've seen it. I am a sinner and that has caused great trouble and sadness. Something else that I have learned: sinners sometimes go so far off the deep end that they are beyond hope. '​​​​​​​​He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.' (Proverbs 29:1) That is also something that I know is true because I have seen it - not in myself but in others. So, I often pray that the Father would not hesitate to correct me, to slap me hard if it will take that, so that I would quickly repent of whatever sin the Spirit might point out to me. I fear becoming that Christian who, though often reproved, refuses to repent. And that, I think, is a healthy fear. It does not tie me up in knots. No, rather it is a very helpful motivation to prayer. I talk to the Father about everything. I know He's interested and able to deal with whatever. So, it just makes sense that I talk to Him about my sin. My hope is in His care and in His power. I have no hope in myself. Too many have been fooled by their sin - I have been fooled by my sin - for me to take any hope in my ability to see danger and turn from it. My hope is in the Gospel. Because of Jesus, I know that the Father will care for me. And if He smacks me a good one because I'm getting a little stiff-necked, I'll thank Him for it after I repent of whatever it might be the Spirit was pointing to. There is grace for sinners, and I, for one, am so glad for that.