Do you ever say the wrong thing? I have sometimes swallowed my foot up to my ankle. Often, it is unintentional. Sometimes, I don’t realize I have said the wrong thing until later. Like Jose Altuve on the Astros, I get a lot of “at bats.” Unfortunately, I strike out verbally far too often. What do we do when we say the wrong thing?
Simon the Samaritan said the wrong thing to the wrong person when he tried to purchase the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter did not mince words: “Repent of this wickedness. Ask God to forgive you for thinking that way!” Simon was full of bitterness and captive to sin. Nothing will take us away from God as quickly as our envy of others.
Repentance is a change in our thinking that leads to a change in our behavior. Did Simon repent? It seems so. He asks Simon Peter to pray for him so that he will not perish along with his wealth. The best way to avoid sin is before it happens. But what if we have said the wrong thing? We can change our minds about it and God can forgive us.
Just between you and God, are you bitter about anything? A root of bitterness will grow into a whole tree, if we allow it to. Are we captive to sin? God can set us free. Repent. Ask God to forgive you. As long as we are alive, it is not too late to turn from sin. But someday it will be. So we turn now.
