Sometime this week a certain TV program shared this story and I felt convicted to also share it. It is really a story that you have probably already read or been told about; one of the parables of Jesus. Jesus explained how two men went in the temple went to pray and the different ways in which they did it, which made all the difference. One an exalted man in the society, while the other would have probably been looked down on, especially because he would be considered a sinner. Their perception of themselves and how they approached the throne of God however, is what mattered. Read on...
"Two men went up to temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the
other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I
thank You that I am not like other men _ extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or
even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I
possess.' And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise
his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying, 'God be merciful to me a sinner!'"
Jesus further explained;
"I tell you, this man went down to
his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he
who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18: 10-14. The word justified in this case meaning, cleared of
guilt, forgiven.
The book of John also says that if we confess our sins, then
God will forgive us, but "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a
liar and His word is not in us." John
1:9,10
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