Daily Meditation -- "Another Shot"

Monday, August 24, 2020

SCRIPTURE:

“Out of the depths, I cry to you, God; God, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, God, kept a record of sins, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. I wait for God, my whole being waits, and in God’s word, I put my hope.” - Psalm 130:1-5

REFLECTION:

Are you someone that holds a grudge? I know people who do...who do it incredibly well and for years upon years...and I am always amazed at how much energy it takes. My constant observation of such people is that they are like someone holding onto a small lifesaver in the middle of a hurricane. It just takes so much to hang onto something that, more often than not, is so much smaller than all the other things going on around them.

I used to hold onto things like that, too. No longer. My energies are better spent elsewhere and time is too short. And besides, the flip side of holding onto grudges is that people can just as easily hang onto the ways in which we’ve not been the best of people, either. People can hold grudges against us, too; it goes both ways.

Can you imagine if God did the same? The psalmist says it perfectly: “If you, God, kept a record….who could stand?” If sin is, as we often say, “missing the mark,” it begs the question: how often do we hit the bullseye, and how often do we miss it and hit outside of it (or miss the target completely)? I bet the honest answer to that, on a broad spectrum, is we miss more often than we land the perfect shot. If God kept score, if God held grudges, we’d all lose. Every one of us.

Thankfully, God doesn’t do that. With God, there is the forgiveness we find so difficult to extend to others, and to ourselves. There is no scorecard, no grudges held, with our loving Creator. There is always an opportunity for a repentant heart and a new beginning; a new chance to take another shot at the bullseye.

We may miss it….often….but thankfully God is always handing us the bow and offering us to take another shot.

PRAYER

Thank you God, for not keeping score about our imperfections and always offering us another chance to hit the mark.

Amen.

Peace,

Shawn