Luke 18:13-14a

13"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' 14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.

We can find ourselves so often praying for the "tax collectors" of the world to be more like us, when what we should be doing is praying that we might see ourselves more like the way that they see themselves. It was not the works of the tax collector that allowed him to go home justified before God, it was his attitude of repentance, his understanding of the reality of his sinfulness and God's righteousness.

The day that we can say-- "Lord, You have the power to destroy me, and because of the way that I have treated you, I deserve nothing less. And because You are a righteous God, by the laws of justice, I should not be here, even now. But because I know You are also a merciful God, here I am Lord, please have mercy on me, a sinner."-- that is the day that we too, will go home justified before God.