You shall not go out with haste,…for the Lord will go before
you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. —Isaiah 52:12
“…God requires an account of what is past” (Ecclesiastes
3:15). At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for
the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise when we remember our yesterdays.
Our present enjoyment of God’s grace tends to be lessened by the memory of
yesterday’s sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He
allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth
for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very shallow
security in the present.[…] Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things
for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but
God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness
for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ.
Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the
invincible future with Him.” CHAMBERS
The remembering our past failures (sins) has two edges. On the one hand, they remind us that we have
a sin nature and that nature has been a powerful influence in our lives. We have proven the truth of the Word … all
have sinned (Romans 3:23) and there
is none righteous (Romans 3:10). Our past failures remind us that we do not
deserve God’s favor. But on the other
hand, we also know that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans
5:8). We know that we have been
redeemed. (Galatians 3:13) “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law (from the judgement of God) by
becoming a curse for us”. That does not mean
ours sins are somehow, “OK”, but it does mean that we are forgiven. It does mean that we have hope. It does mean that we have help. It does mean that we have a certain future. Don’t let your past hold you back. You are a child of the King. Focus on your future and rejoice! ELGIN
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
Charley Elgin
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