“Forgive the Typos”

Where I work, we often receive copies of books for possible review in our magazine. One that arrived the other day had been self-published.

Now, many good books have been self published. What struck me about this one was the white index card stuck in the middle that had a hand-written note stating, “Please forgive the typos.”

The author may have had very good reasons for not realizing there were errors until after the book had been printed. No doubt, he wanted us to know that he realized the mistakes were there.

Isn’t that often what we do? We do something that we know is wrong, then we say, “God, please forgive my mistakes."

I have good intentions not to gossip, but I hear about a co-worker who is having problems and I tell a friend about it. Later, I pray, “I’m sorry, God. Please forgive me.”

Or God has convicted me that my tendency to complain is wrong, and I vow to keep a positive attitude. And I do—until a project with an unrealistic deadline is assigned. Then the old spirit rears up and spits out sarcastic, bitter comments. But again, I say, “Oops, God. Just don’t pay any attention to my errors.”

“Please forgive my typos,” I say to God again and again. The good news is, He does. “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west” declares Psalm 103:12 (NLT).

Even though God forgives my sins, I wonder if I am taking the easy way out when I knowingly commit a “mistake,” expecting God to overlook it. Still, it is reassuring to know that I can go to Him when I mess up and that He will, indeed, forgive me.

So today, Lord, when I sin—because I will, whether intentionally or not—please forgive my typos.