Banned
Yesterday, I had to replace my phone—no, not with an upgrade, with the exact same model, the iPhone 4. One of the apps I use regularly collects points that allows me to earn gift cards—you earn points by walking in stores or by scanning products or by clicking on a store's name when you are near to it. When I logged in on my new phone last night, I received a message that I had been "flagged" for inappropriate behavior, and was now banned from the service. (The message also said it had been nice to know me...how kind!) As best as I (and others) can tell, the grievous sin I committed was changing devices.
I've done a lot worse things, but the whole sordid mess makes me so grateful that, no matter what I've done, God in his grace continues to welcome me. I've never prayed and received a message, "I'm sorry, Dennis, you've passed your sin limit for your lifetime. You are now banned. It's been nice to know you." We serve a gracious God who "never leaves us nor forsakes us," who certainly does not want us to engage in sin but when we come with repentant hearts (hearts that are determined, by his grace, to "turn around"—or, as Jesus told the adulterous woman, to "go and sin no more"), he will forgive us. There is nothing we can do that is beyond his grace.
Now there is that repentance thing. It does take movement on my part. The word for "repent" in the Bible means to do a 180, to turn around and go a different direction. Too often, we want to repent, be forgiven, and keep doing the same thing we've always done. That's not repentance. That's trying to trick God and abuse his grace. Repentance means we make a change, we head in God's direction rather than our own. It's not just feeling sorry for what we did; it's being determined to "sin no more."
I have apologized to my app provider. We'll see if that gets me anywhere. But I know that when I confess my sin and repent to God, I'm always going to be accepted and never be banned. Thanks be to God!
Scripture references: John 8:2-11; Hebrews 13:5; John 1:16.
I've done a lot worse things, but the whole sordid mess makes me so grateful that, no matter what I've done, God in his grace continues to welcome me. I've never prayed and received a message, "I'm sorry, Dennis, you've passed your sin limit for your lifetime. You are now banned. It's been nice to know you." We serve a gracious God who "never leaves us nor forsakes us," who certainly does not want us to engage in sin but when we come with repentant hearts (hearts that are determined, by his grace, to "turn around"—or, as Jesus told the adulterous woman, to "go and sin no more"), he will forgive us. There is nothing we can do that is beyond his grace.
Now there is that repentance thing. It does take movement on my part. The word for "repent" in the Bible means to do a 180, to turn around and go a different direction. Too often, we want to repent, be forgiven, and keep doing the same thing we've always done. That's not repentance. That's trying to trick God and abuse his grace. Repentance means we make a change, we head in God's direction rather than our own. It's not just feeling sorry for what we did; it's being determined to "sin no more."
I have apologized to my app provider. We'll see if that gets me anywhere. But I know that when I confess my sin and repent to God, I'm always going to be accepted and never be banned. Thanks be to God!
Scripture references: John 8:2-11; Hebrews 13:5; John 1:16.
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