Pulling the Wrong Latch

Did you ever do something stupid, and then acted as if nothing had happened? I remember a story that the illustrious Erma Bombeck told about her husband. It seems that he rented a car while in Pittsburgh and accidently pulled the “open hood” latch rather than the “brake release”. Instead of getting out of the car, closing the hood and driving off, he got out of the car and spent five minutes under the hood adjusting wires that didn’t need adjusting - just so he could save-face.

I thought of the many times that I’ve done dumb things just to save-face. God never minces words. We call it saving-face, but He simply calls it PRIDE. We’ve all got it, but God hates it. He tells us in 1 John 2:16, “For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting or what he has or does (the pride of life) – comes not from the Father, but from the world.”

Could it be that our willingness to let go of our pride and admit that we’re wrong could even lead to our healing? In James 5:16 it says, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

I want to be powerful and effective, don’t you? Let’s remember this the next time that we pull the wrong latch.