No one is good enough to deserve heaven. Even our best deeds are tainted by elements of selfishness and vanity. Salvation can come to us only as a gift of God's grace. This is good news, but it offends our pride.

Bill Walker, a character in George Bernard Shaw's play Major Barbara, portrays this well. He is angry and drunk when he enters a Salvation Army shelter. He seeks out a young worker there who has introduced his ex-girlfriend to Christ. Bill finds the worker and hits her in the face.

When bystanders taunt him for this cowardly act, Bill becomes remorseful. He attempts to "make things square" by spitting in the eye of a wrestler who is present, hoping the man will strike him. But the wrestler is also a Christian, and he and the girl are willing to forgive Bill. Enraged, he leaves. Pride prevents Bill from accepting forgiveness.

We can no more make things square with God than Bill Walker could atone for hitting that girl. But we don't have to even the score. God freely offers forgiveness and eternal life.

Don't let foolish pride keep you from receiving the greatest of all gifts! Acknowledge your sin and helplessness. Believe what God has said. Put your trust in Jesus Christ. He has already made things square for us.  — Herbert Vander Lugt