Mark 2:9–11: “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins’—He said to the paralytic, ‘I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.'”

January 28th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Humanity’s deepest need is not for fairness but for forgiveness. Forgiveness is powerful; it can set an individual free from past failure and restore their sense of self-worth. While we can and should forgive others, our greatest need is to receive forgiveness personally. And we need to be forgiven by the One who has the authority to forgive. God’s forgiveness is a gift of power to deal with real, deep guilt, not by ignoring it, but by facing it and eliminating it. Good friends, who mean well, may say, “Don’t worry about it;” but our sin is not against them.

King David understood this when he declared that sin is always against God. David sinned by having an affair with Bathsheba, and then made matters even worse by having her husband killed. He reached a new low in his life. After being confronted about his sin, he wrote, “Against You [God], You only, have I sinned, / And done this evil in Your sight” (Ps. 51:4). Although we may also sin against people, the reality is that our sin is ultimately against God. And while we need the forgiveness of the person we sinned against, we ultimately need the forgiveness of God. Only He has the authority to forgive sins. Forgiveness is a cool drink of water to a person’s dry and parched soul. It is the medication that heals us at the deepest level of our being. We all need forgiveness.

“LORD, forgive us, heal us, and restore us, we pray.”