A Season of Hope ~ Preparing our Hearts for Easter
Hebrews 8:12
“For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and will remember their sins no more.”
Driving back to school after enjoying her college Spring break, our youngest daughter decided to put the pedal to the metal in order to pass a “really cute” guy driving a BMW. The next thing she knew, flashing lights appeared in her rearview mirror, coming from the roof of the BMW. Once she got back to school, she called to let us know she had arrived safely and confessed to receiving a speeding ticket. “I never dreamed a cop would be driving an unmarked BMW!” For a while, it was a lesson that was hard to live down, especially with a dad who loves to make jokes. One day, after another poke of fun from her dad, she had had enough, “Dad, God has forgotten that speeding ticket, can’t you forget?” Needless to say, that was the last time he brought it up.
Our verse for today reminds us of the assurance our hearts can experience when we give our burdens of sin to Him. Can God actually forget what we have done? No, for He is God. But, we can be encouraged by our verse today which says, He “…will remember their sins no more” which means He will no longer hold them against us. God doesn’t have a storeroom or archives set up to catalog all of our transgressions for future reference, nor does He need a ‘Delete’ button or ‘BleachBit’ to erase them. Our Father doesn’t brood over our iniquities as we tend to do. He says, “Turn to me with your heart, with fasting and weeping and with mourning and rend your heart.”
Unpardoned sin hinders mercy but, when we lay our iniquities before the Father, He is faithful to pardon, to offer mercy, and to remember no more. He deals with us on the basis of that grace and mercy. Once sin has been forgiven, it is never before us again. Let us adore the Lord who delights in mercy and uses a great big eraser!
May this Psalm be our prayer today:
Psalm 130
“Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD;
Lord, hear my voice.
Let Your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
If You, LORD, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with You there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve You.” Amen
~ art by Jen Norton
