"Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to Your mercy remember me, for Your goodness’ sake, O Lord." (25:7 NIV)
According to His mercy, the sins of our youth, are sins of the past and they are fogotten, blotted out by the blood of Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God!
However, it would be nice if our neighbors' memories were as short as God's! So often, it is difficult for people to move ahead with their lives, because everyone around them has this picture of a sin that they may have committed in their past and they just won't let go of that picture. They build up walls and obstacles for the one who would like to move forward with their lives in service to God and community.
I left Upper Michigan when I was very young. When I returned, after my husband's retirement from the Marine Corps, to my surprise, everyone thought I was the same person that I had been when I left. Wow! It was amazing! It was like when I left, my life must have stopped or something. I assure you, it did not. It has been quite full of God's presence and guidance and refining!
I knew a faithful Pastor years ago. He served in the same community that he grew up in. After decades of ministry, there were still some who thought he could not have been really called by God to serve His Church. (I assure you - he really was!) But, they thought this about him because when he was in his early 20's, he had been caught driving drunk. This, many of the people of the small community, never forgot.
It is a good thing for all of us, that God in His mercy, pardons our inquity for His name's sake. Our sins of the past are just that - in the past. They are behind us. Let us look to each day as a new day to live in the presence of God. And... not just we. May God help us to allow our neighbor's to live for today and tomorrow, not stuck in the past.
God's Peace - Pr. J.
According to His mercy, the sins of our youth, are sins of the past and they are fogotten, blotted out by the blood of Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God!
However, it would be nice if our neighbors' memories were as short as God's! So often, it is difficult for people to move ahead with their lives, because everyone around them has this picture of a sin that they may have committed in their past and they just won't let go of that picture. They build up walls and obstacles for the one who would like to move forward with their lives in service to God and community.
I left Upper Michigan when I was very young. When I returned, after my husband's retirement from the Marine Corps, to my surprise, everyone thought I was the same person that I had been when I left. Wow! It was amazing! It was like when I left, my life must have stopped or something. I assure you, it did not. It has been quite full of God's presence and guidance and refining!
I knew a faithful Pastor years ago. He served in the same community that he grew up in. After decades of ministry, there were still some who thought he could not have been really called by God to serve His Church. (I assure you - he really was!) But, they thought this about him because when he was in his early 20's, he had been caught driving drunk. This, many of the people of the small community, never forgot.
It is a good thing for all of us, that God in His mercy, pardons our inquity for His name's sake. Our sins of the past are just that - in the past. They are behind us. Let us look to each day as a new day to live in the presence of God. And... not just we. May God help us to allow our neighbor's to live for today and tomorrow, not stuck in the past.
God's Peace - Pr. J.
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