Pardon My Plank
 By Luann Prater

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  Matthew 7:3

Why is it so easy to spot?  You know what I'm talking about... the speck.  You would think my eyes were equipped with magnifying contacts.  Offenses seem evident in someone else, but where is my mirror?  Too often I huff when someone pulls out in front of me forgetting that last week during a brain-freeze I was on the receiving end of a grumble!  We call this planking and I'm afraid I've been guilty of plank-enormous.

Years ago when my sister was sitting at a traffic light she decided to brush her wind-blown hair.  She glanced in the mirror and began to sweep through her tangles until every strand was in place.  Her car, however, was not in place.  Her foot had eased up on the brake ever so slightly and she was inching her way forward.  When the car horns began to blow she realized she was sitting right in the middle of a very busy intersection.

Now she definitely needed to be reminded that she was obstructing traffic, but I wonder how many behind the beeping had bigger issues in their own mirror.  On a spiritual level, it is easy to spot the blatant sins of others.  But have you noticed the tip of that iceberg in your own life?  It may seem small at first glance, but beneath the secrecy, white lies, or snippy attitude may be a festering sore, a plank that needs to be healed and removed.

I've asked God to put a bit in my mouth and a mop in my brain to wash away negatives I may see in others and reveal the glaring transgressions living in me.  Pardon my plank.  Have you been planking lately?

Pray for God to reveal ugly in you.  Ask for forgiveness for planking.  Write down the grievances that God reveals during your prayer time.  Make a concentrated effort to focus on removing the planks in your life.  How do you allow God to increase the light on your plank and take the spotlight off the dust on others?  Why do you focus on others?  What underlying issues need to come to the surface?

Dear Lord, remove my vision for fault in others and highlight the sin in my own life.  Forgive me for planking.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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© 2019 by Luann Prater.  All rights reserved.

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