Month: March 2006

“…and remember their sins no more…”

It’s hard for me to believe God remembers my sin no more. Perhaps it’s because I remember my sin so well, or because other people remember my shortcomings and view me in light of them. Maybe it’s because I have such a hard time forgiving others – let alone forgetting what they’ve done and saying that it never happened.

And when i sit with someone and am prepared to share with them all my failures and weakness – I squirm a little when they say tell me those things don’t matter – I feel uncomfortable with the idea of forgiveness, of pardon, of justification.

I have so much to learn about how God works. I can’t understand Him. And in those moments when i see a new picture of God, I feel afraid – afraid because I see a new picture of how far I have to go.

“No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
saying ‘Know the Lord!’,
because they will all know me.”

May I know and practice the depths of your forgiveness, O God.

Jesus spent a lot of time in boats.

Maybe that’s why I like them so much.

We journey across life, each in our own boat,
in an ocean of powerful forces we don’t understand.

Good sailors use the wind and the waves,
they don’t create them.

How often do I sit in my boat,

sails raised,

and blow with all my might,
hoping to move along.

at the national prayer breakfast, bono mentioned the advice he received from a wise man:

“Don’t ask God to bless what you’re doing,” he said, “rather jump on board with what God’s doing, because it’s already blessed.”

So often we look around us seeking God’s blessing in our lives for whatever little pet project we have right now, instead of looking around for what God is already doing, and becoming involved in that. So often I’m guilty of trying to make things work out on my own, instead of seeking God’s will and following His plan.

My hope is that each of us will look around us in our lives for the work of God around us, that we would all constantly jump on to what He is doing, and that in the process we would both be a blessing to others, and be blessed ourselves.