In the Book of Isaiah is the story of King Hezekiah. This king knows that he is going to die, but he prays to God that he might live, and is granted that answer to his prayer. God gives him 15 more years, and Hezekiah writes this response:
“Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness;
It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness,
For You have cast all my sins behind Your back."
King Hezekiah, in his gratitude for the extension of his life, writes these words. God does not keep his sins continually before Himself, He puts them all behind His back, where He does not look on them again.
God does not want us to be demoralized and paralyzed by the sins that we have committed. That is easy for us to do when we come to the point where we realize how bad we really are, but He wants us to know, that when we truly confess our sins to Him and repent of them, He "puts them behind His back and looks on them no more".
In a small men's group at church, we are being encouraged to observe our lives and reflect on those events that are "kairos" moments, ones that have special significance. Some of these can be high moments, ones where God has especially worked goodness in our lives, and some can be trying times, but through which new learning has come. Many of these bad times come because we sin and have caused harm, both to ourselves, and to others.
Times of reflection can be hard because it is our sin that has caused us pain. We can even be stuck in a reflective mode and not be willing to move beyond our mistakes, but it is good to know that God, if we are truly His, puts them behind his back and looks on those no more. We may dwell on it, but He does not.
Thank Goodness!
No comments:
Post a Comment