BUT I CAN’T FORGIVE ‘THAT’

(Host’s note:  This beautifully worded blog is from a new contributor and writer to Light on the Rock blogs.  We welcome this daughter of God, who will go by “Newfie”. I hope you get as much inspiration out of it as I did. – Philip Shields)

“There is no witness so dreadful, no accuser so terrible as the conscience that dwells in the heart of every man.” Greek historian, Polybius (205 BC-118 BC)

Passover is almost upon us and when I saw this quote today it grabbed my instant attention.  How true!  Conscience can be a formidable thing when repenting and walking on a rocky road toward perfection.  ALL of us sin and have sinned and come short of God’s glory—eternal life. Romans 3:23 I think most of us know that even if we didn’t grow up Christian.

And the fact that we have a conscience shows, by itself, that God still considers us His “good” creation (Genesis 1:31) and has not hidden Himself from us (Yes He does separate Himself from sin but that is another topic) or taken all that is good from us..  (“If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me” (Deuteronomy 4:29/ Jeremiah 29:13)

“But my sin was SO HORRIBLE!  I JUST CAN’T FORGIVE MYSELF EVER!”  we might say.  “I am sitting in jail right this moment and will be here for the rest of my life!  How am I supposed to forgive myself for that?!”

Well, here is where the Power that you don’t automatically have by yourself comes in.  You have repented (promised the Eternal that you will not repeat that horrible action or those horrible thoughts), have turned from your previous way of life and recognized that your sins are UGLY in His sight. (Isaiah 64:6) but He still loves each of us enough that He gave up His one and only Son to die and pay for that ugliness. (John 3:16) With repentance He then promises to clean us.  (I John 1:9/ Psalms 51:2/ and my favorite, Psalms 51:10)

THEN He welcomes us into His House.  Psalms 23:6 says goodness and mercy will follow us and we will dwell in God’s house forever.  I will say “forever” means “forever’ so the time period would have to include now.  He welcomes us before His presence!

This would be hard to do if we were not also forgiving ourselves because His house is a house of rest.  (Hebrews 4::1-9) Although these verses contain many meanings with one of the main ones being a permanent fulfillment of ‘rest’ (eliminating all anxiety and self-incrimination while being filled with the fruits of the Spirit) they also refer to a rest that we can have in this life!

Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to go and don’t keep judging herself.  He said he was certainly not going to judge her because her accusers were gone.  For her accusers to be gone, she could not accuse herself.  He instructed: “... go and sin no more”.  (John 8:11—read the whole story in this chapter).

My request for all of us is to take God up on is promises.  One day at a time ask Him to remove our bad thoughts. (Matthew 6:11)   They are certainly Satan inspired. (Matthew 6:13) And to go forward through Passover with humility and great thankfulness for being cleaned up and forgiven by our Savior.

So go with solemn joy to Passover with a joyful, forgiven and clean heart – and take of his bread of his life, and drink of his cup.  All of this is possible because of what HE has done for you and me. We praise you, our Father.  We praise you, our Savior.