「窮光蛋」是葛雷的綽號，而且他還自豪地把這個名字印製成汽車貼紙，貼在自己那輛破車的保險槓上。這個綽號雖然不具有任何屬靈含義，但卻很適合葛雷這個中年賭徒、通姦者和騙子。他生活頹廢、經濟名譽都破產，並且遠離上帝。但在某天晚上，這一切都改變了。那天晚上，他在旅館房間裡蒙聖靈光照，終於承認自己是個罪人。他對妻子說﹕「我想，我已經得救了！」他承認了以為至死也擺脫不了的罪，並來到耶穌面前尋求赦免。在接下來的30年裡，這個曾認為自己活不過40歲的人，成為一個生命被改變的基督徒，而且事奉上帝。葛雷的汽車貼紙也從「窮光蛋 」變成「悔改」。

沒錯，葛雷所做的就是悔改，而這也是在何西阿書14章1-2節，上帝呼召以色列人做的事：「以色列啊，你要歸向耶和華你的上帝；……當歸向耶和華，用言語禱告祂說﹕『求祢除淨罪孽，悅納善行。』」無論我們的罪是大是小、是多是少，都會使我們與上帝隔絕。但是我們還是可以回到祂的面前，只要藉由遠離罪孽，回轉歸向上帝，接受耶穌為世人捨命而賜下的赦罪之恩，你我便能親近上帝。無論你是困乏軟弱的基督徒，或是你的生活就像從前的葛雷一樣，只要向上帝禱告認罪，就能使你罪得赦免。

“BROKE” was the street name Grady answered to and those five letters were proudly emblazoned on his license plates. Though not intended in a spiritual sense, the moniker fit the middle-aged gambler, adulterer, and deceiver. He was broken, bankrupt, and far from God. However, all that changed one evening when he was convicted by God’s Spirit in a hotel room. He told his wife, “I think I’m getting saved!” That evening he confessed sins he thought he’d take with him to the grave and came to Jesus for forgiveness. For the next thirty years, the man who didn’t think he’d live to see forty lived and served God as a changed believer in Jesus. His license plates changed too—from “BROKE” to “REPENT.”

Repent. That’s what Grady did and that’s what God called Israel to do in Hosea 14:1–2. “Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. . . . Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: ‘Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously.’ ” Big or small, few or many, our sins separate us from God. But the gap can be closed by turning from sin to God and receiving the forgiveness He’s graciously provided through the death of Jesus. Whether you’re a struggling believer in Christ or one whose life looks like Grady’s did, your forgiveness is only a prayer away.