Psalm 66:16-20 reminds us that God hears the prayers of genuine seekers: “Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me. For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw his unfailing love from me.”
To live an upright life is the fear of the Lord! Though our shortcomings are great, God’s grace is greater yet. The children of God are called to live a life of surrender to the will of God as revealed in the Word of God. When we fall short we simply and reverently acknowledge our sin, thank God for His forgiveness (secured by Christ on Calvary’s cross), turn from that particular sin, then get on with our life, our walk with God.
Everybody (even tremendous men of God like John) occasionally fails and falls short. But, rather than react with disgust and crushing condemnation, Jesus responds with compassionate, timely, real answers. The only folks who will not receive this kind of mercy are the kind of people Luke writes about as the narrative continues: the Pharisees and “experts” in the law who refused John’s message that Jesus was Israel’s Messiah (Luke 7:30).
Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless — cheerfully.