Today was a gorgeous day. Great weather, good company (just sorely missing one family), got a lot accomplished. Had a good day with my new smoker, got the boat in the water, cover on the lift, new bird feeder installed, played games with the grandkids, a wonderful day.
But it was also a terrible day. I was a grump all day. Complained about everything I was asked to do, generally made life miserable. That was made even worse by my Sunday School lesson for tomorrow on the second of the Beattitudes – “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” The mourning spoken about is mourning over sin, personal sin. It’s not about making others sad you’re around them, so that they cheer when you leave the room. When we relish our sin, as I did today, there’s no mourning, and as a result no comfort. Until, that is, we come face to face with ourselves and our sin and realize what we’ve done.
Sin is easy to slip into. Paul says it well in Romans 7:15-20. “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”
But what is great is 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Because verse 10 reminds us once more that “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
So, my day is ending on a better note. Mourning my sin, and my sinful nature, and comforted by God’s forgiveness. Thank you, Lord!
