The windshield was cracked. Not just a hairline fracture but a spiderweb that had the potential to make Spider-Man sit up and take notice!

So I got it changed. Such a difference-from the gravel-battered glass of yesterday to the clear, shiny drivability that I could now experience. It reminded me of how God's Word talks about His forgiveness in Isaiah 1:18 (NIV). "Come now, let us settle the matter," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."

Wow! Totally forgiven!

Then came the road . . . That first stone hit right in the center of my vision! My perfect glass was no more!

Know what I did? I took it right back to where I got the windshield from and they took that rock chip right out of there (they can do that now). I was back on the road until smack! another rock!

Where'd I go? Right back again to that glass shop and then right back on the road! This time it was a couple of months before the road threw another rock at me! I still knew the solution though-back to the glass shop!

It reminded me of our humanity, how we slip up now and again-and we need God's forgiveness again. Not to get saved all over, just cleaned up. It's something like those rock chip repairs; I didn't need the whole windshield replaced, I just needed the chip fixed!

As in all things human, parallels to spiritual concepts fall a little short. Alas, the glass shop only covered three chips and that was it! The next one was $60 from my pocket, but hey, it came with unlimited crack repair (they do that now too!) and rock chip repairs!

Now that sounds more like God's "seventy-times-seven forgiveness plan"! The Word says in I John 1:9, "If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." He just keeps on forgiving!

My windshield will probably get in a few more arguments with road rocks, but I know where to go to get the damage fixed!