He stared at the floor, head in his hand,
wondering how in the world he had done what he’d done.
Justin’s life wasn’t what he wanted—or had
intended. But he didn’t know what he was capable of until he concocted a plan
to change it.
A friend of Justin and his wife needed
help. She faced divorce and feared she wouldn’t get custody of her child.
Justin stepped in and promised her he could help—for the right price.
Supposedly, he knew a “man” who, if paid, would make things go right in court.
But one payment for Justin for his help wasn’t
enough. He desired more. He wanted quite a few “play toys.” So, he kept
prodding his friend for more money, threatening her if she didn’t pay.
Thousands of dollars racked up in his secret bank account.
Things seemed to go well until the woman
he was extorting tried to take her life. That’s when the sordid story came out
and authorities arrested him. The judge charged him with extortion and
kidnapping and placed a heavy bail on him. He made bail, but when the
sentencing came, the judge gave him as much as five years in prison and five
years’ probation—plus restitution.
Justin wondered how he’d gotten where he
was. Hopefully, he will realize he can start over. David did. As king, David
also lusted after something that wasn’t his—another man’s wife. He tried to
cover up his one-night fling that resulted in the woman becoming pregnant, but
he couldn’t. Her husband had too much integrity to fall for David’s ploy.
Although David had her husband murdered and then married her, God sent some
hefty consequences for his sins.
Like Justin, David didn’t confess
immediately. God had to send Nathan the prophet to tell him a story about a
rich man who took a poor man’s lamb to feed a traveler—even though the rich man
had more than enough sheep to spare for the weary traveler. David saw himself
in the story…and confessed.
We can label sin as something
else—mistake, goof up, indiscretion—but we’re all tempted to sin in some way or
the other. Our sinful nature draws us to things we shouldn’t do, say, or think.
The good news is that none of our sins are
beyond God’s forgiveness, with the exception of one: unbelief. As long as we
repent and confess, God forgives and gives us the chance to start over—as He
did with Justin and David. He probably won’t take away the consequences of our
sin, but He’ll work all things together for our good in the end.
Unlike David and Justin, we need to
confess quickly when we’ve sinned. The longer we hesitate, the more trouble
we’ll find ourselves in and the more likely we’ll commit another sin to cover
up the sin we’ve perpetrated.
Satan will afflict us with false guilt by
telling us God can’t use us anymore or that we’re not Christians after all. But
we don’t have to listen to his lies. We can cry out to God, and God will prove
what a liar Satan really is.
Don’t ever think you have gone too far to
start over.
Prayer: Father, we thank You that Your
forgiveness is always enough to cover our sins.
Tweetable: What's your first response when you've failed?
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