Tell me if I’m wrong, but I think one of the most irritating things about kids’ sports is when parents lie about the score. In some of my kids’ basketball leagues, as soon as a team is up by ten points, the scorekeeper doesn’t add points to the board because he doesn’t want the losing team to feel bad about losing by a lot. Frankly, I think that’s dumb. Every kid on that court knows the actual score, so the adults aren’t fooling anybody.
God cannot lie, so he knows the score. At the same time, he isn’t actually keeping track. In Psalm 130:3, we read, “O Lord, who would be able to stand if you kept a record of sins? But with you there is forgiveness so that you can be feared.”
When Jesus died on the cross, he forgave your sins. There is no need for God to have a scoreboard tallying up all the times you hit your brother or lost your temper or rolled your eyes at your parents. All those sins were paid for when Jesus said, “It is finished.” Now, when God looks at you, he’s happy because you’re on his team.
The only score that matters to him is Jesus: 1; Satan: 0.
You win!
Dear God, thank you for not keeping score when it comes to my sins. I know I have a whole lot of them, but you see me as if I don’t have a single one. Thank you for not keeping a record but for letting me claim Jesus’ victory as my own. Amen.
