Our Trespassing Ways
I always chuckle a little when I attend church, and we recite the Lord's Prayer together. Some of the congregation says, "Forgive us our sins," and the others say, "Forgive us our trespasses."
I always pause for a second before I pick the word to see what the majority goes with.
Oddly enough, most bible translations use the word debt instead of sin or trespasses, but I don't usually hear that one. Maybe I should start messing everyone up and say, "Forgive us our debts" instead.
Imagine the looks I would get.
Anyhoo, I digress.
I was thinking about that word—trespasses. The Greek origin of the word is paraptoma, which means "to go off a path, fall or slip aside, to deviate or to wander."
Been there, done that.
As we have been walking this painful path of forgiveness, I look back and see all the times I deviated from God's plan.
I slipped, fell, and wandered far away. So many times, I found myself in places I should never have been.
But God never stopped chasing after me to bring me back to Him. Time and time again, He dusted me off, picked me up, and turned me around to get me back on course.
There is no point in regretting, shaming, or rehashing those wanderings.
All the meanderings, twists, and turns of my trespassed past brought me here.
Found, forgiven, and deeply loved despite it all.
As I forge ahead, I may slip and fall again.
Come to think of it, I should put on literal blinders to stay focused on the path ahead so I’m not distracted by temptations that cause me to wander away.
"Oh, wait. What's that sassy little fun thing over there? I should go check it out! I'll be right back."
Despite my stubborn and wandering ways, I am so grateful that God never stops bringing me back to Him.
Our journey continues, my fellow forgiven trespasser (or sinner or debtor - whatever makes you comfortable)!
The Lord's Prayer from The Book of Common Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 2:1
We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
Proverbs 4:25-27
Let your eyes look directly ahead [toward the path of moral courage]
And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you [toward the path of integrity]. Consider well and watch carefully the path of your feet.
And all your ways will be steadfast and sure. Do not turn away to the right nor to the left [where evil may lurk]; Turn your foot from [the path of] evil.
Philippians 3: 12-14
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and str ining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.