Thought for the Day - Wednsday 24 February

Thought for Wednesday 24 February 2021 Jeremiah 3:22   ‘Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.’ ‘Yes, we will come to you, for you are the Lord our God.   I was reading an email from a friend in Canada and she happened to mention something about the time we started our correspondence, by ‘snail mail’. My husband was a bus driver for most of his working life and about 30 some years ago he was one of a number of drivers ferrying the Canadian Legion Pipe Bands around Scotland. They had come to take part in the Edinburgh Festival and visit Highland Games around the country. He came home after 10 days with half a dozen addresses to write to. Now I don’t know about any men reading this, but letter writing was not Benny’s strong point, in fact it wasn’t one of his ‘points’ at all so I was left to it and I’m still in contact with two of them. Anyway, on one of the days out for them they were passing an immense patch of heather and amid all the oohing and ahhing, Benny asked them if they would like some (shh, say nothing). This ended up with him going down the hill a bit, clipping off a stem here and there. On the way back uphill, he started to slide backward. After the guys on the bus stopped laughing some of them got out to ‘help’ which resulted in more hilarity. But what if there had been nobody on the bus fit to help Benny back up the hill, or if he hadn’t been willing to accept the help offered, what would he have done? He would have landed at the bottom of the incline, up to his knees in muck and mud. This started me thinking. How grateful are we that when we start sliding backward spiritually, there is the mighty hand of God, always ready to catch us? Our wonderful Father in Heaven is not willing to let one of us be lost at the bottom of a slippery and dangerous path. We only need to be willing to hold our hand out and ask for His help and forgiveness.   Prayer Dear Lord We sometimes do slip from the path You have laid for us. Our problem usually is that we are blind to the wrong turnings we take and stubbornly hold to the choices we have made, refusing to admit our mistakes. Help us to see what’s happening, to admit the mistake, and ask for Your help. Amen.