Sins of Others

This Penghulu man in the black jacket was teased without mercy. The topic of sin came up, and everyone pointed to him as the worst sinner because he had recently divorced his wife. The heart of man is the same the world over. It is much easier to point out sin in others than to recognize it and deal with in in our own lives. The “bad” sins are the ones that we don’t struggle with ourselves.

In the book of Isaiah we see the prophet telling of the wickedness of the nation, but in chapter 6 Isaiah comes face-to-face with the Holiness of God. The “woe” to them became “woe” is me. Isaiah realized his own sin, and it was then and then only that God could deal with him, restore him, and use Him to reach others. The same is true in our lives.

The peoples of Sumatra and the workers trying to reach them desperately need to encounter Holy God in a profound way that will cause a turning from the sins of others to deal with personal sins. It is this God-given conviction of sin that causes the Gospel to be Good News.

Pray for workers on Sumatra to encounter God and deal with personal sin.

Pray for believers on Sumatra to encounter God and deal with personal sin.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to lay bare the hearts of people to see their own sin and not rationalize their behavior by pointing to others that they think of as being “worse” sinners.

Pray for the Gospel to be boldly and fully proclaimed to Holy Spirit prepared people on Sumatra.

Pray for men, like the man in this picture, to realize that the sacrifice of Jesus is more than enough to make him clean. There are no sins too big to be beyond the reach of grace expressed through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.