Imagine a beggar sitting on a sidewalk with his hand held out and his head held low begging for money to eat. He is ashamed to look up because of his appearance. He only has his hand extended hoping that someone will be generous enough to place a coin in his worn and dirty hand.
Now imagine if we were that beggar coming before God to beg for his mercy. Dirtied by sin, heads bowed because we are ashamed by our transgressions, but coming before our Father nonetheless to beg for mercy. The thing is that we see ourselves as beggars. God sees us as his children. Once we discover that we are and always will be the children of God, then our lives take on new meaning and new purpose. Sin becomes something foreign because we do not want to damage this relationship with the Father. Yet, sin invariably creeps into our lives and we find ourselves once again as beggars with our hands outstretched to God. He does not reject us. He does not ignore us. He lifts us up, cleans us off, and forgives us...no questions asks.
Holy Week is upon us. Have you come before your God and begged for his mercy?
