I have read the Bible through many times. It never ceases to amaze me how God used such sinful people to carry out His work. There were always consequences for sin and there were times when God executed great wrath and judgment. However, think of names like: Jacob, Judah, Moses, Rahab, Saul, David, Solomon, Samson, Paul, and many others. Here we find prostitutes, adulterers, murderers, terrorists, liars, deceivers, etc. Yet, God used each of these people to carry out His purposes. God allowed them to be a part of His work in-spite of their many sins.

This gives me assurance and hope. My sins are many too. I am sure your sins are also many. God’s grace does not give us an excuse to sin. However, God’s grace does give us assurance that God can still use us even when we fail. God is very quick to forgive. However, we struggle with forgiving ourselves. We find ourselves resigning to our sin because we are tired of fighting it. We are often hesitant about doing anything great for God because we are so aware of our depravity. Our personal sins have a way of dragging us down and, thus, affecting the lives of others. Though God has forgiven us, we tend to punish ourselves. Our mistakes do not cause God to take us out of the game and put us on the bench. Instead, He teaches us and helps us learn from our mistakes and encourages us to keep going. You may have sinned today. You may have really messed up. Don’t take yourself out of the game. Get up and keep fighting. Keep on serving the Lord. If God can use the likes of David and Paul, He can certainly use you.