Missing the Mark
I love playing mini golf. My favorite course is in Cocoa Beach, Florida. It is beautifully designed with palm trees, caves, waterfalls, and live alligators along the way! While I like the competitive nature of playing with family or friends, I’m not very good. On the scorecard, there is a set number of times you should hit the ball into the hole. I am always way over! It’s a relief that when the game is over, we throw the scorecard away and get ice cream! I’m thankful that my playing ability does not impact how my family treats me afterwards or determines my worthiness to celebrate with ice cream.
In a much bigger way, I’m so thankful that God does not treat us as our sins deserve. If He kept a list of all of the ways we have missed the mark, who could stand? Today in Daniel, we read, “Yet the Lord our God is compassionate and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him” (Daniel 9:9).
And our rebellion against Him is not as simple as having a high score in minigolf. If we were honest, our rebellion against Him is much more serious. We have lived in pride and engaged in selfish ambitions, jealousy, idolatry, gossip, slander… and the list goes on. Some of us have lived in sexual immorality, hatred, and drunkenness. Our state is actually much worse than we are willing to admit. Like the Israelites, we have lived in opposition to God.
God’s Great Grace
I love what Daniel prays in Daniel 9:18b-19, “For it is not because of our own righteous deeds that we are praying to you, but because your compassion is abundant. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, pay attention, and act! Don’t delay, for your own sake, O my God! For your city and your people are called by your name.”
The appeal made here is completely based on who God is and what He can do. Daniel is asking for God’s mercy and grace in spite of our sin. God is perfect, and He holds a perfect standard. The truth is that none of us can live up to it. Nope, not one.
In Romans, Paul quotes Psalm 14:1-3 when we read, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away; together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12). It is a truth that has been understood since Old Testament times since Adam and Eve sinned against God in the garden.
I’m so thankful for God’s compassion towards us in Christ Jesus. That He has provided a way for us to be restored to him. May it never cease to amaze us that He has given us a clean slate, taken our losing score in minigolf, and exchanged it for ice cream. May our hearts be filled with gratitude. By the power of the Holy Spirit living in us now as new creations, may we seek to walk in His ways today!
