February 12, 2012

Dear Friends,

Buddy Owens writes about a friend of his who pastors in the northwest. On one occasion he was preaching from Romans 3:23, which tells us that “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Buddy’s friend apparently said, in the middle of the sermon, “God knows all of your sins and God’s seen all of your fallen shorts.” According to oral tradition, he found it very difficult to continue after that! Someone once told me, “Your congregation will not always remember when you lead them to the feet of Jesus; but they will always remember when you put your foot in your mouth.” Ah well, such is life!

Of course, though he misspoke, (as politicians say), Buddy’s friend did have a point. There is nowhere for us to hide when we offend against our holy God. We may run away to the uttermost parts of the earth but it will do us no good. Our sins will find us out, because we can’t hide from God. Neither should we try to. Forgiveness is less than complete if we don’t name the offense. That’s what confession is for. We come to God with our sins and our shortfalls, and we seek His forgiveness. That’s the way to be “pure in heart”.

Yours aye,  
In Him, 
Alan Trafford