On this quiet Sunday afternoon I was spending time with the Lord. I'm currently doing a study on Hebrews and really enjoy it. I have never done a study on Hebrews and I have learned a lot. Many of the studies have been perfect timing for what I'm struggling with that day. God is pretty awesome for that. :)
This afternoon was a study on Hebrews 8:1-13. Going from the old covenant to the new one (Jesus!). At the end of the passage it talks about God being merciful and not remembering out sins any longer.
What I really wanted to share was a little inspiration story from the study. It was a great reminder!
Enjoy:
I was thanking the Father today for his mercy. I began listing the sins he'd forgiven. One by one I thanked God for forgiving my stumbles and tumbles. My motives were pure and my heart was thankful, but my understanding of God was wrong. It was when I used the word "remember" that it hit me...
God doesn't just forgive, he forgets. He erases the board. He destroys the evidence. He burns the microfilm. He cleans the computer.
No, he doesn't remember. But I do, you do. You still remember. You're like me. You still remember what you did before you changed. In the cellar of your heart lurk the ghosts of yesterday's sins. Sins you've confessed; errors of which you've repented; damage you've done your best to repair.
And though you're a different person, the ghosts still linger. Though you've locked the basement door, they still haunt you. They float to meet you, spooking your soul and robbing your joy. With wordless whispers they remind you of moments when you forgot whose child you were...
Poltergeists from yesterday's pitfalls. Spiteful specters that slyly suggest, "Are you really forgiven? Sure, God forgets most of our mistakes, but do you think he could actually forget the time you..."
Was God exaggerating when he said he would cast our sins as far as the eat is from the west? Do you actually believe he would make a statement like, "I will not hold their iniquities against them" and then rub our noses in them whenever who ask for help?
You see, God is either the God of perfect grace, or he is not God. Graces forgets. Period. He who is perfect love cannot hold grudges. If he does, then he isn't perfect love. And if he isn't perfect love, you might as well put this book down and go fishing because both of us are chasing fairy tales.
But I believe in his loving forgetfulness. And I believe has has a graciously terrible memory. (From God Came Near by Max Lucado)
-Kells
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