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“And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13).
We saw yesterday that the bad boy, John, felt that the Pharisee’s prayer just would not do for him. Then the Sunday school teacher read the prayer of the publican, and asked, “How about that prayer, John? Is that one better?” John was a tough boy, and today we would say that he was “street smart.” He was used to fighting, putting up with hardships, and not showing his emotions. But the Lord was working in his heart, and when he heard the prayer of the publican, he started to cry. “Yes,” he said, “that is the kind of prayer I need.” I am glad to tell you that John got saved that day, because he came to the Lord Jesus simply as a sinner—a bad boy.
The Pharisee did not realize that his heart was bad too, and that he needed a Savior just as much as the publican. If we have been brought up in a Christian home, we may have been kept from doing some of the bad things that others do, but our hearts are just as bad, and we need a Savior too.
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