How many church services do you think are blessed with so many visual props to make a point? I don’t know about you, but when I walked in Sunday to see a 6 foot high steel cage sitting there in the middle of the stage, I couldn’t wait to see what exactly pastor had in mind. I can’t say I would have been completely surprised if he had stepped out in wrestling tights with someone announcing “L-L-L-L-et’s get ready to R-U-M-B-L-E!” (Ryan, feel free to use that if you run short of ideas).
But as he began hanging up each of those pictures, it reminded me of how holding on to the past creates a barrier between us and God. Sins of our past, if we we refuse to let them go, build a wall that prevents us from seeing God. Imagine, if you will, that pastor had continued to post pictures of everything he had ever done against God in front of him. Little by little, his view outside of himself would be diminished. Pretty soon, he wouldn’t be able to see out around them at all. He would lose sight of God.
Who of us can claim anything different? I certainly cannot. When I sit down and reflect over all of the wrongs I committed against God, I wonder how he did not give up on me. How could he possibly continue to love me as I denounced his very existence at one point in my life? The quick answer is: he is God, and can pretty much do whatever he wants. But for those of us that need further explanation, the answer can be found in Ephesians. In chapter 1, verse 4, Paul writes “For he chose us in him BEFORE the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his site, IN LOVE.” God’s love for us is so great that, even while He knew exactly how we would each fail Him, he still chose us. So God chose us from the beginning of time, He loved us then, and His love is never-ending.
Because of salvation, our sins are washed away--completely. 2 Cor 5:17 tells us that “if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”. Paul goes on to write in verse 19 “that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting peoples’ sins against them.” Ephesians 1, vs 4 says, “In him we have redemption through his blood...” In Romans 8:38-39, Paul confirms that nothing will stop Christ from loving us. This includes our past sins, as well as sins that we will inevitably be guilty down the road. As pastor pointed out, the “snapshots” of our lives don’t define us, Christ’s redemption does. Jesus does not hold our sins against us. Through accepting Him, we are cleansed. His blood washes away every one of those pictures of our past we are holding onto. WE ARE FORGIVEN! So if Christ does not hold what we’ve done against us, what right do we have of not letting go?
So how do we avoid allowing our guilt of sinning to interfere with our future in Christ? In Phillipians 3:13, Paul explains, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” If we focus on how we have failed to follow the Word, we lose sight of God and his future for us. By allowing those snap shots to collect and multiply, we become distracted, and barriers are formed between our hearts and God. Satan certainly loves it when we do this. It’s guaranteed that he’s right there beside each of us, striving to remind us how short we fall. We must avoid allowing our past to prevent us from moving ahead in Christ. We must resist the subtle reminders that satan loves to insert into our thoughts. Because, as pastor put it, if we obsess about the voice of the enemy, we cannot hear the voice of God.
Lord God, thank you for not giving up on us. You knew every sin that we would commit, you knew every time we would fail to keep you in our hearts, even before we were born. Yet you still created us. You allow to go through those times, and never give up on us. Thank You! You were always and will always be there.
What snapshots are in your life? Take time to reflect on anything that might be obscuring your view of God, and ask Him for the power to let it go. Please feel free to share in whatever way you are lead. Comments, critiques are always welcomed.
--Jim
