August 14, 2025 Devo

A guy named Nigel Graham from Southampton, England, thought he’d be sneaky. When his mother died in 2002, he took her blue disabled parking badge and put it in his car. He used it to park in closer, more convenient spaces, even though he knew it was illegal since it wasn’t really his. He eventually got caught and was ticketed for it. He came to court, pled guilty, and paid his fine for misuse of a “blue badge” and fraud by false representation. You would think getting a hefty fine for a violation like that would make you change your ways. But you’d be wrong. Four months later, he was back in court facing the same charges again. He received this ticket right outside the courthouse. He had used the badge to park in a disabled parking space on the day he had come to court to pay his fine for parking in a disabled parking space! Some people are hard of hearing. Others are just hard of learning.
That’s the caution of the writer of our verse today. Psalm 85 is a beautiful text in which the Psalmist pleads for the mercy and grace of God. The people of God had often gone off on their own, ignoring the Lord and doing whatever they wanted to do. But God was faithful and loving and was willing to bring His people back, dust them off, and help them get going again. What a wonderful, gracious God we serve! But the Psalmist also understands human nature. He knows how prone we are to wander, so he throws in this warning. “But let them not return to their foolish ways.”
What a great word to all of us. On our human journey of faith, we are all going to make mistakes. We are going to foul up, do something stupid, or even do something we know we shouldn’t do. God, out of His great love for us, is gracious, merciful, and kind. He will take us back and restore us. But as we begin again, let us be WISER. We will always make mistakes, but let’s not make the SAME mistakes. We will continue to mess up, but let’s at least mess up in different ways than we have before. To trip over a stone on the path is normal. To trip over that same stone again and again is just foolish. God’s grace may be free to us, but it cost Jesus His very life. Let’s not treat it casually or carelessly. God cares enough about us to help us get back on our feet. Let us care enough about Him to choose a better path. That’s God’s Word for you today.