I work in a government agency. One Monday morning, I drive into the car park and in the process of parking my car, a woman pulls up beside me in her car apparently parking her car too. Since I'm parked before her, I open my door and it hits her car gently as our cars are parked quite close to each other. I'm trying to put my things into my handbag before I alight from my car. This woman comes out of her car and warns me in a loud voice that my car door is scratching her car and she hates her car being scratched and that I need to stop scratching her car.
Her tirade is weird because my door hit her car gently and her use of the word "scratching" doesn't make sense as my car door is currently not in motion. She keeps insisting that I am scratching her car and then it dawns on me that the only thing I can do to appease her and her car was to shut my door. That was also weird cause I was supposed to be alighting from my car. I shut my door and she sashays away.
I have parked in that car park for a long time and she was unfamiliar. I bet she didn't work in the building. As I was heading to my office, I wondered what if she was headed to my office too. What if I got to my desk and she was in the waiting room? What if I had the duty of handling whatever file or contract she was pursuing? What would she do if at some point she needed my assistance officially? My guess is she would apologise the moment she realizes I was the one she was rude to. Then she will proceed to blame her rude behaviour on one thing or the other. If I was her I'll likely do the same and so would a typical Nigerian.
I imagine I'll forgive her and help her in any way I can. What strikes me is that although I may decide to overlook the incident and assist her, I will know in my heart of hearts that this woman is not genuinely sorry for her behaviour. She is sorry only to the extent that her action may prevent her business from making progress. She is sorry she was rude to the wrong person. In another car park on another day, she is very likely to behave in a rude manner. Her nature will most probably remain the same. She is sorry for the moment she is before me.
Is that how God feels when we make a habitual practice of sin? We come by first saying we are sorry so that He forgives us and then we proceed to our major prayer points. You know the prayer of a sinner is an abomination to God so we start by getting the "I'm sorry" out of the way. So yes God forgives us but He being omniscient knows our nature is not changed and that we are only sorry for that moment. If I were Him, I would not be too happy. I'd rather that we take on the nature of doing the right thing instead of habitually doing the wrong thing and then whipping out the "I'm sorry" when our file gets to His desk just because we need His assistance. Obedience is better than sacrifice/apology.
