Another fascinating fact, I recently discovered is that throughout the whole of England, it is illegal to eat mince pies on 25 December. I have no way of checking if that is still true, but if so, there must be many who, like me, broke the law on Christmas Day. Hopefully, the police are not aware of this, or would not enforce it if they did.
If you are a driver then I wonder if, like me, when passing a stationary police car, you perform any of three reactions. Firstly, you check your speedometer, if necessary, you reduce your speed and then keep checking your rear-view mirror to see if the officer is coming after you because of something you may not be aware of.
In a Christian debate, the question was posed, “What is sin?” to which one response was, “Something that someone does, that I don’t”. Another suggestion was, “If you are the only one who knows what you are doing or thinking then, you are not adversely affecting anyone else so it doesn’t matter”.
A recent talk at our church referred to the visit of Nathan (a prophet) to King David and after telling the king a sob story that enraged the king, Nathan said (somewhat courageously) “You are that man!” Psalm 51 is the subsequent response of the King, who though guilty of so many crimes following just a look was nevertheless still used by God and included in the royal line that culminated in the birth of Jesus, the Saviour of all.
Hebrews 11 is referred to in different ways, but what I find fascinating is that despite the sinful failures of those mentioned, they are commended for their faith, not their faults. Last year, I was appalled when a lovely Christian was reminded by another of some sin, he had committed THIRTY YEARS earlier!.
Isn’t it amazing that twice in the book of Hebrews (8:12 and 10:17) the phrase is used “their sins will be remembered no more”? Not forgetfulness, but a choice to not remember, a gift I wished we could experience. Hopefully, my remembrance of personal past failures will be a learning experience, but it would be lovely to have that gift relating to others.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, it is so easy to use the words of the familiar prayer and say, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive others”, but may we also avoid dwelling on others’ sins. AMEN