As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12 (New American Standard Bible)
East is East
I find myself sometimes worrying about sins I have committed in the past. Even after confessing my guilt I have been plagued with doubt that even though God forgave me He still has my tally sheet in front of Him and has some kind of punishment in store for me. If not in this life then He’ll sock it to me in the life to come.
King David, a man who lived some 3,000 years ago had an interesting observation on his own sins. Just one of the many sins of this man was the taking of another man’s wife and the murder of the woman’s husband. God disciplined David but in doing so David realized how merciful God was to him. What he came to realize was a lesson that has tremendous spiritual application for myself when I wonder if God is still keeping score on me. Before Columbus pronounced the world was round David was the original Renaissance Man seeing the earth as a rounded orb and not a pancake. He knew that if one headed north he would eventually cross the North Pole and begin heading south. But he also knew that if one begins to head east he will continue to go east indefinitely never crossing over into a westerly course. When going east one never meets west. He spiritually discerned a spiritual equivalent to this geophysical concept. God had removed his transgressions (plural) as totally as the east is from the west. This is the greatest news for me knowing that my forgiven sins will never come before the Lord again.
I often think of this when I find myself imagining God with a “Ken’s Sins Book” always ready to run his finger through my many pages of transgressions. It’s a comfort for me to know that all my sins are forgiven in Christ because of His powerful work of redemption on the cross and His resurrection from the grave. God has removed them to never set them against me again. My sins are as far removed from me as the east is from the west and because of what Jesus has done He will never associate their guilt with me again. That is forgiveness on the grandest scale. When it comes to God’s forgiveness through His Son east never meets west. I am forgiven forever.
Ken
www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com
East is East
I find myself sometimes worrying about sins I have committed in the past. Even after confessing my guilt I have been plagued with doubt that even though God forgave me He still has my tally sheet in front of Him and has some kind of punishment in store for me. If not in this life then He’ll sock it to me in the life to come.
King David, a man who lived some 3,000 years ago had an interesting observation on his own sins. Just one of the many sins of this man was the taking of another man’s wife and the murder of the woman’s husband. God disciplined David but in doing so David realized how merciful God was to him. What he came to realize was a lesson that has tremendous spiritual application for myself when I wonder if God is still keeping score on me. Before Columbus pronounced the world was round David was the original Renaissance Man seeing the earth as a rounded orb and not a pancake. He knew that if one headed north he would eventually cross the North Pole and begin heading south. But he also knew that if one begins to head east he will continue to go east indefinitely never crossing over into a westerly course. When going east one never meets west. He spiritually discerned a spiritual equivalent to this geophysical concept. God had removed his transgressions (plural) as totally as the east is from the west. This is the greatest news for me knowing that my forgiven sins will never come before the Lord again.
I often think of this when I find myself imagining God with a “Ken’s Sins Book” always ready to run his finger through my many pages of transgressions. It’s a comfort for me to know that all my sins are forgiven in Christ because of His powerful work of redemption on the cross and His resurrection from the grave. God has removed them to never set them against me again. My sins are as far removed from me as the east is from the west and because of what Jesus has done He will never associate their guilt with me again. That is forgiveness on the grandest scale. When it comes to God’s forgiveness through His Son east never meets west. I am forgiven forever.
Ken
www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com
