«For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again» (Proverbs 24:16).
THE TEAM IN CHARGE of finances in a country’s government is almost always made up of well-trained people. I remember the terrible financial crisis that affected the United States at the end of the first decade of the 2000s. The world’s best economists were unable to provide President George W. Bush with sound advice. Were they foolish? Of course not! They were men and women who had been trained in the best universities. We simply have to acknowledge that even the most brilliant people make mistakes.
The Library of Mistakes opened in Scotland for new generations to learn from past mistakes. The library’s slogan is: «Mundum mutate errore singillatim,» that is, «Changing the world – one mistake at a time.» The idea is for people to obtain bibliographic material that will allow them to make the best use of other people’s financial failures. When past mistakes are not corrected, we are likely to make greater mistakes in the future.
I believe the Bible got ahead of the Scottish people, because the Scriptures are a library whose books are full of mistake-ridden protagonists: Adam and Eve, having been made very good, failed; Noah, a perfect man who walked with God, got drunk; David, a man after the Lord’s own heart, committed adultery; Elijah, who made fire come down from heaven, got scared and hid; Peter, who walked on water, denied the Lord … In short, the list is endless.
God’s Word doesn’t hide the fact that God’s men and women are inclined to make mistakes, to take steps in the wrong direction. Even if someone thinks they are not part of those who make mistakes, they would do well to pray like David: «But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults» (Psalm 19:12, NIV). Mistakes are sins committed in ignorance, those offenses and failures that we don’t always understand or that we may not even realize we have committed. That’s why John says, «If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us» (1 John 1:8).
And why did the Bible record the mistakes of the great men and women of the past? It’s so that we may learn from them, so that we won’t fall into the same errors as they did, and so that we will always be mindful that «though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again» (Proverbs 24:16).
The Scriptures are not only a library of mistaken people, but of restored people as well.
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Taken from: Devotional Readings for Adults 2023
“I AM WITH YOU”
From: J. VLADIMIR POLANCO
Collaborators: Lorina Maya & Angelica Cuate
