the big difference

Today we read from 2 Samuel 7:1-8:18 in the One Year Bible. We are given a comparison between David and Saul. And we see a similarity here. David is to Saul what Peter is to Judas. All four of them sin. Of course they do. They're human. And we humans sin, as a rule. We make mistakes.

But David and Peter went on to become heroes of the faith. Saul and Judas both gave in to their despair from falling and killed themselves. What's the difference?

Well, we have it on record that David and Peter both repented. They both screwed up, sure. Big time. They both did terrible things: David stole another man's wife and slept with her, getting her pregnant... and then killed the man to cover his tracks. Peter denied even KNOWING Jesus. Not once, but three times. While Jesus was going through the hardest time of His earthly life. Those are not minor sins. Those are huge.

But they both repented. They realized they messed up and they came back to God and said "I'm sorry. Please forgive me and help me." And that's all God is asking us to do when we sin.

If you go back to the math analogy.... when we mess up, it's like getting our math wrong. If you realize you've messed up your math and you go back and try again, you will probably find the right answer eventually. But if you refuse to admit you're wrong and try to keep going with the bad math, you'll never get the right answer.

God, please help us to repent every time we fail.