"Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." Psalms 119:18 (KJV)
We’re All Sinners
His friends whispered as loudly as they dared, “No, Avijit. Do not go up to those people. They do not want you there. Stay with us.
Avijit walked on towards the settlement, ignoring his friends’ pleas. “I’m not like you,” he muttered “They will take me in and help me.”
As he approached a woman laden with wares she had just purchased at the bazaar, she shrieked as she gazed at the boy approaching her. “Stand back,” she warned. “Don’t get any closer!”
“But,” he tried to present his case, “I am not as bad as the others,” he pointed to the three that stood at the outskirts of the city, watching what would happen.
“Still, you are a leper!” reminded the woman.
“But Ketak’s fingers and toes are disfigured,” he pointed to a distant figure of a young girl wrapped in tattered rags. “Look at mine. They are straight and strong.” He showed the woman his young, brown fingers. They were not affected by the dreaded disease.
“Maybe not, but still you have the cursed disease. Stand back.” She said as she also took one step backward.
“But, my sores are not as bad as Badal’s,” he pointed to another figure looking on from afar. “See, they are a lot smaller,” he pointed to the sores on his face and ears.
The woman shrugged as she looked at the disfiguring mass of sores spread across the young boy’s face and body, “But still you have leprosy. If you get any closer, I could also get the disease. Stand back. Stay with your own kind, so we don’t get it,” and she quickly scurried away.
No matter how Avijit compared himself to others, the truth of the matter was that he still had a contagious disease. He was still a leper and was a danger to others around him. Many compare their sins to others in a similar manner. They know what they have done, but they justify their iniquities as not as “bad” as others’ deeds.
They compare themselves to the convicted thief behind bars and justify, “Yes, I have stolen pens from work, but I’m not as bad as that man that robbed a bank.”
The truth whispers back, “Ah ha, but you are still a thief.”
“I may lie to keep myself from getting in trouble with my parents; but I’m not as bad as that person that lies all the time.”
Again the truth speaks softly to the conscience, “But you still are a liar!”
Stumbling for an example to clear any suggestions that they are guilty of being “bad”, justification fires back, “But, I am a good person. I’m not as bad as others!”
The small, soft voice of conviction answers back, “But sinning only once still qualifies you as a sinner. Do not compare yourself to other sinners. The penalty for sin is hell.”
“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” II Cor. 10:12
Unfortunately, it is “human” to compare ourselves to others. It is not our measuring tool that matters, however. It is God’s judgment that matters, and He says no sinner can go to heaven. Since we are all sinners, the prognosis is not good. However, because God loves us, He gave us a way to have our sins forgiven and forgotten. That way is to recognize you are a sinner, and believe that Jesus has paid for your sins with His blood at Calvary. All we need to do is admit our sinnership and trust Christ’s death is sufficient to pay for our sins; and then we can have God’s promise of heaven one day. All sin can be forgiven, and we can have our name written in heaven’s “Book of Life!
“And there shall in no wise enter into it [heaven] any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.” Rev. 21:27
This article was featured in The Bible View #564.