Ezekiel 43-45 Clean-up isn't as great as the covering for it!!

September 13th, Ezekiel 43-45

       The Texas Penal Code speaks of four culpable(blameable) mental states in the commission of a crime...
Intentionally:    I expressed a plan orally or in a written format to get even with someone
Knowing:        When I kept hitting someone, I knew it was going to turn out really bad.
Recklessly:      Speeding down a residential street, seeing children playing, hitting one chasing a ball.
Criminially Negligent: A reasonable person ought to have known. Shooting a 30/30 at a deer with a farm                                        house behind the deer. One ought to have known that was a bad idea.

       I bring that up because the Bible speaks often about unintentional sins and todays text speaks about anyone who sinned through "error or ignorance." I don't know about you, but the sin that I am aware of in my life is enough to overwhelm me. Much less to think about all the ways I am not living up to the standard through my own criminally negligent sin( things I ought to have known)!
       The good news is that Jesus Christ bought and paid for all of it. The measure to which I fall short on my account (more like $2 million than $.02) is made up for by God's grace. I find it interesting that it wasn't just God's grace, but God's grace through the death of Christ. Sometimes it makes me wonder why God's grace couldn't stand alone without a sacrifice that costly. A big sacrifice for a big problem I guess.
       I'm stirred this morning by the idea of grace covering not only the sin I know about and regret, but the sin I am not aware of in my life and God's abundant grace to cover that as well. The attempts to clean up will never be as great as the covering for it, thank you God.