November 27, 2004
Pointing Fingers
Read: Psalm 14
There is none who does good, no, not one. —Psalm 14:3
Bible In One Year: Ezekiel 30-32; 1 Peter 4
An employee in the bill-collection department of a large store gave me an insight into human nature. He told me that he repeatedly gets the following response from customers who are delinquent in paying their bills: "I know you must have others who owe a lot more than I do. Get off my back, will you!"
The employee then told me, "They miss the point entirely. Sure, there are a lot of others who owe more. But somehow I have to tell them in a nice way, 'Look, what somebody else owes isn't the issue. Our records say that your account is overdue!'"
The tendency of sinful man has always been to shift attention from himself by pointing the finger at others. Religious people excuse their inconsistencies by referring to the "pagans" around them. And the "pagans" try to sidestep the issue by talking about the hypocrisies of the religious. But God is not fooled by finger-pointers.
When someone else appears to be a greater sinner than we are, it's just an illusion. The sooner we realize that no one owes more to God than we do, the more likely we are to receive His free forgiveness. He extends His pardon only to those who humbly acknowledge that they are hopelessly in debt. —Mart De Haan
It scorns Your holy name;
I will not make excuse for wrong—
Christ's blood is what I claim. —D. De Haan
One sin rationalized becomes two.