A 3rd stumbling block to accepting forgiveness is the choice to dwell on our past sins. We may say sorry, pray confessional prayers at church, but then take up our spiritual weight again. Even though scripture says, “If we confess our sins God is faithful and simply to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1John 1:9), we doubt that such a freedom occurs.
But does that make sense? Think of it this fashion: Every week, we put out the rubbish. We take the apple cores, the used containers, and the messy rags and place them in the surface garbage bin. We remove the refuse from our lives. It is reassuring to know that our garbage has been discarded. I don’t learn about you, but I actually have yet to bring the rubbish from the surface bin back into the home. I actually have never desired to be re-surrounded by my old garbage once more.
Why, then, will we do that with our spiritual lives? Why will we will be predisposed to take up all that now we have laid down? We all know the adage is “Forgive and forget,” but because we are able to’t forget, we don’t feel forgiven.
It could be hard to show off the voice that claims we haven’t earned our forgiveness. We live in a world that tries to rank and file every little thing and everybody. We live in a world of merit and earning, one which bombards us with messages equivalent to, “What goes around comes around” and “You get what you deserve.” With this message firmly in our minds, it’s hard to listen to the liberating message of the gospel. The message of free and everlasting forgiveness seems far too good to be true.
In that world that runs on earning your keep, Scripture cuts through the noise and offers us a word of hope. We needn’t query our forgiveness, our stumble over our desire for forgiveness – because forgiveness is key to who God is for us. And so, like a Sentinel looking toward the horizon within the eager anticipation that the dawn will come just because it all the time does, so we are able to live our lives within the knowledge of God’s forgiveness, love, and redemption. Amen.
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