Never Missed a Quiet Time in 40 Years, But…

You know, it’s the story that I’ve told about this man. He never missed a quiet time all his life. Never missed it. years without missing his morning prayers, the alarm would go. He would wake up, rub his eyes, get the Bible out, and read the Bible first thing everyday. And one day, the alarm failed to wake him. And he has this dream. And Satan comes to him and Satan says, “Hey, come on. Wakey wakey. Time to wake up. Time for your quiet time.” Ho, ho, ho! What are you. What are you doing? And Satan says to him, “Well, I was an angel of light once myself. And, you know, I could see how. How much enjoyment you get out of your quiet time. So come on, wake up. I can’t believe you would ever want anything good from me. And he wakes up in a cold sweat, and he lies weakly in bed. He wants me to pray. Satan wants me to pray. Satan! And he thinks it over. And what a relic. A sacred relic he’d made of these 40 years. And what confidence he had, he was launching into eternity on 40 years of of not missing a morning devotion And he thought about it. And he came to this conclusion. It’s a it’s a mighty conclusion. God loves our sins when they are mixed with repentance more than he loves our virtues when they are mixed with pride. He doesn’t love our sins, of course he doesn’t. But he loves our sins mixed with repentance more than he loves a virtue. I’ll give you a chapter and verse that shows you that that man was absolutely right. Luke 18:10, Two men went to the temple to pray. I one while he could rehearse all he’d achieved, all the commandments he’d kept, and he was like this wretched man he knew about his past. And that other man. He just beat his breast and looked down and said, God be merciful to me, a sinner. And that’s all he said. And Jesus said, “He went out of the temple, declared righteous.” He went out, justified with all his sinful past. And this man that with all the good deeds he had done he left as sinful as sin could be.