Pray with Spurgeon

Daily Newsletter from SpurgeonBooks

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Lord, you are a great sin-pardoning God. There is none like you, passing over transgression, iniquity, and sin; and, for Jesus’ sake, receiving the vilest of the vile to your bosom and casting out none that come to him; taking up even the blasphemer and the drunkard, yes, the very worst, and washing even these from their crimson sins, and making them whiter than newly-fallen snow.

O Lord, we sometimes wish that we could sing like the angels. Then would we praise you better. But as it is, human voices are all we have, but they shall be used to the praise of “free grace and dying love,” to which we owe all that we have, and all we ever hope to have.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:14)

Perhaps someone says, “But, possibly, after all, he may bring the accusation up again. He may only have hidden it for a while, and laid it by that he may bring it out against me some other day; and when it is produced, some expert will examine it with his glass, and through all the blotting he will make out the original charge, and say, ‘This man was guilty of such-and-such crimes.’”

“No,” says Christ, “he shall not do that, for I will let you see where I put the handwriting. I will take it quite out of the way, but I will fasten it up where you can see it,”—“nailing it to his cross.” Ah, that is glorious! Just as Christ was fastened to the tree by those dreadful Roman nails, so has he nailed up all the sins of his people, and all that could be laid to their charge.

FORGIVENESS OF SINS FOR PARENTS

“But I received mercy for this reason, so that in me, the worst of them, Christ Jesus might demonstrate his extraordinary patience as an example to those who would believe in him for eternal life.” (1 Timothy 1:16)

Paul, the former Christian-killing Pharisee, believed that Jesus saved him to show off how deep, wide, and wonderful his grace could really be. Paul hoped that sinful people would look at him and think, “If Jesus could save that guy, surely he could save me.”

As parents, it’s easy to think that our sin disqualifies us from pointing our children to Christ. But, in reality, your sin is an opportunity for God to show off his grace. May our children look at us and think, “If Jesus could save them, surely he could save me.”

So don’t shamefully hide your faith when you’ve sinned against your children — tell them that God’s mercy is your only hope. At the same time, don’t pridefully hide your wrongdoing when you’ve sinned against your children — confess your sins and make it painfully obvious to your kids that God’s mercy is your only hope.

Parents, lead your kids to be lifelong followers of Jesus. Family devotionals from God Centered Family give you everything you need. Learn more at GodCenteredFamily.org.