Story of the Day for Monday November 25, 2013
God Only Forgives People Who Are Wrong
If I should say, “My foot has slipped,” your merciful love, O Lord, will hold me up.
Psalm 94:18
I hate to admit I’m wrong.
But, over the years, to my good fortune, I have noticed that I seldom am wrong – about anything.
Don’t get me wrong – being right all the time does have its burdens. Once I discovered that I was always right, I shrewdly realized that “other people” must be the ones who are screwing things up. I bemoan the faults and idiocy of Democrats, tree huggers, and Presbyterians, it dawned on me that being irked by the faults of others took up a good part of my day.
One day I discovered that the joy of always being right is not a joy. I had become a thief . . . and I was robbing from myself.
Zig Ziglar tells the story of Emmanuel Ninger. In 1887, Ninger walked into the local grocery store to buy turnip greens. He gave the clerk a twenty dollar bill, but as she put the money in the cash drawer, she noticed ink from the bill had stained her hands, which were damp from handling the turnip greens.
The clerk has known Mr. Ninger for years. He can’t be a counterfeiter! But, finally, she goes to report the incident to the police, who confirm that the twenty dollar bill is a counterfeit.
With a search warrant in hand, the police search Mr. Ninger’s home. In the attic they find the room where he is counterfeiting money. Emmanuel Ninger is a master artist and he was reproducing money with paint and brush.
The police also found three portraits that Ninger had painted and confiscated them. These later sold at auction for $16,000 (in 1887 currency). The irony is that Ninger spent as much time counterfeiting a twenty dollar bill as it took to paint a portrait that would sell for over $5000.
Emmanuel Ninger was a thief, but the person he stole from was himself.
I’m a slow learner, but I have begun to realize that, when I refuse to admit my faults, I am robbing myself. I’m robbing myself of the grace of God. God can’t show mercy to people who are always right. He can only forgive people who are wrong.
When my foot would slip, I used to claim that I was just practicing a dance step like Fred Astaire did in Singing in the Rain. But I’m starting to learn that when I admit that my foot slipped, the merciful love of the Lord will be there to support me.
(copyright 2012 by climbinghigher.org and by Marty Kaarre)
(image: http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/omalley/389money/images/ningermuglg.jpg)
Story of the Day--climbinghigher 
