2021 Daily Devotion - Day 371

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Pastor Mark Daniels is Senior Pastor of Living Waters Lutheran Church in Springboro, Ohio, and told this story about Frederick the Great in one of his sermons:

“He was a king of Prussia, the nation that formed the core of what later became Germany, back in the eighteenth century. The story, which may or may not be true, says that Frederick was inspecting a prison in Berlin. Most of the prisoners, as prisoners usually will do, told him they were innocent and begged to be released.

One man, though, was silent. Frederick asked the man what crime he had been accused of and if he was guilty of it. “Yes, your majesty," the prisoner replied, "I deserve my punishment."

Frederick called for the warden and ordered the immediate release of that man. "I will not have him kept in prison," he said, "where he will corrupt all of its innocent occupants."

This is a part of what repentance looks like, when we are honest about our sin and broken condition. When we fail to be honest, we are trapped in our brokenness and it is more difficult to experience the freedom, forgiveness and redemption Christ Jesus brings. Lent is a good time to become more honest.

Proverbs 11:3 NIV
The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

Pray with me:
Heavenly Father, remind us in this season that “honesty is the best policy”; especially when it comes to ourselves. You know and see everything anyway. There is nothing to be gained by trying to fool You, because when we do, we only make a fool of ourselves. When we come to You in full honesty, You are able to bring us Your redemption, which comes through Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Yours because of Him,
Pastor John R. Steward
Senior Pastor
Mount of Olives Church
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