Vista del interior de un pozo árabe, junto al Castillo de la Aldehuela, Torredelcampo, provincia de Jaén, España. Photo by: Veinticuatro de Jahén
One of my
sisters was praying about her sins. She said she asks God to forgive her sins
every day. She was talking with God about sins and how we sometimes commit the
same sins over and over.
Suddenly,
she saw a well. As she looked down the well, the Lord spoke to her, “You can
see through the first inches of water in a well when the sun shines on it.
Below those inches is total blackness. Sins are like that. They are underneath
the surface, and the Holy Spirit keeps them down and covered. But they can
break through sometimes. On earth, you will always have this blackness deep
inside you. In heaven, it will be gone.”
Years ago,
every time I sinned I felt so guilty and evil that I couldn’t face God in
prayer for days. I was ashamed I was capable of sinning after I gave my life to
him. But I have learned we do sin after asking him into our hearts and minds. The
Bible teaches that, but I had been raised in a church where sin was considered so
horrible no real Christian would ever sin.
Actually,
God uses our sins to humble us, to keep us from becoming proud. I think we
would be insufferable if we were perfect. God did say to be perfect, but it
means to reach completion. It is a walk, a life-long journey. I think we all
need to learn we are extremely sinful people. Without God, we would do horrible,
awful things. We would keep them a secret, if possible, but we really are
capable of doing the worst.
Thank God
for his forgiving grace and enormous love. Thank God he loves us just as we are
and will hold us back from many sins. Thank God he will forgive us seventy times
seven in one day if needed. And thank God he is everlastingly patient.
