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- Written by: Don Goulding
So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way from home his father saw him, and his heart went out to him; he ran and hugged his son and kissed him. (Luke 15:20)
“Eroni, don’t go so high or you’ll fall,” I said to my four-year-old pal. He was swinging dangerously high in our hammock on the porch in the Fijian rainforest.
A few minutes later Eroni hit the deck. There was a silence while he gathered air to bellow his pain.
Eroni didn’t need to hear, “I told you so.” The hard knock from his fall was reminder enough of his error. I scooped the lad up and he sniffled against my shoulder. It was his way of saying, “Forgive me.”
What the prodigal son, young Eroni, and I all have in common is that when we sin, God rushes to forgive. Even before we grasp the depth of our folly, divine pardon is applied.
Maturity in Christ means I will come to recognize my sinfulness, but the path to that knowledge starts with forgiveness. The result of grace is that when my full confession and repentance finally come, as they must, they’re genuinely from the heart.
God’s restoration frees me from hiding my guilt out of fear of judgement. Instead, I can admit my sin and resist it. There is a deep spiritual principle at work here. Forgiveness yields increased holiness where condemnation so often fails.
Prayer: Father, thank you for your swift and complete forgiveness.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world - to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37)
I woke and heard large molars crunching food on the other side of the nylon tent. I was nervous about our first camping trip in Africa, and sounds grew ominous in the black of night. Everything was on the menu for something else.
By morning light, the spore (nice word for poo), confirmed our nocturnal visitor was only a vegetarian eland. I was relieved that nothing had been hungry enough to eat sour, old white guy.
Among humans there are differences in our appetite for truth. Some only want truth when it brings personal gain. Others crave truth no matter the cost to temporal self. We range from animalistic snackers to Spirit hungry gorgers.
In the Gospels, Jesus speaks shocking truths that I often water down with my interpretations. I take “lose your life,” and “turn the other cheek,” and make them into irrelevant metaphors. Read as literal commands, they’re too potent for my delicate palate.
Jesus is the embodiment of truth. He not only speaks absolute truth, but he also carries my falsehood to his cross. Thus, he encourages my desire for more unvarnished reality. I want to feast in the Bible, and swallow its truth into who I am.
Prayer: King Jesus, make me a truth eater.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the wild beasts, all the things that creep on the ground, and all people who live on the face of the earth will shake at my presence. The mountains will topple, the cliffs will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground. (Ezekiel 38:20)
For a while, Dani and I lived in the California foothills, on top of 370 miles of abandoned gold mines. In the neighboring town of Alta, a thirty-two-year-old schoolteacher plunged to his death when a sinkhole opened beneath his living room. Imagine sitting in front of the TV when the world groans, then falls away.
I realize that will be my destiny too. According to Scripture, the world will fall away for every human, then we will face God. We need to prepare for that shock. It’s not a decision that can be postponed until we’re tumbling through the air.
Some rely on an insurance policy to save them when the floor drops out. Years ago they prayed to receive Christ, but nothing in their life attests to that decision. Maybe their dependance on that waiver will save them, maybe it won’t. Personally, I can’t live with that uncertainty.
Jesus taught us to pray like the lost sinner in his story. “The tax collector, however, stood far off and would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am!’” (Luke 18:13) The Lord assured us that, “this man went down to his home justified.”
Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. That’s a prayer to repeat every day. It’s a prayer not only to mouth, but also to live out in my attitude. The ongoing plea for mercy is the only prayer that appropriates his sufficiency into my need. It’s the only prayer that lets me sleep each night, knowing that when the big crumble hits, I’ll land in his arms.
Prayer: Gracious Father, get ready to catch this sinner.