Over the course of the past two years I have lost 50 pounds and still weigh more than I did when I got married. I must have been a skinny kid. Yesterday I went to pick up a 50 pound bag of wild bird seed and was amazed. I can’t imagine that for a decade or so I carried that weight around everywhere I went. My heart, blood pressure and joints should be thanking me for making life so much easier for them.
Unfortunately, our physical weight isn’t the only burden we often bear. There is the responsibility of mortgages, insurance payments, taxes, utility bills and for many there is tuition. That would be okay if that was all there was. But so often we also carry psychological burdens and the worst burden of all is guilt. It takes the bloom off of life. We kick ourselves each time we remember what we did wrong and wish we could go back and have a second try. Rarely does life allow us second tries. The good news is God is much more gracious than people. People have long memories and often would like us to suffer for our wrongs. However, our God isn’t that way at all. He promises immediate relief from the burden of our guilt. He is like parents who wait for Christmas to arrive so their children can open the packages.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteous.” The only way for that verse to be better would be if John had included the word “quick.”
It’s time for us to travel light. Lay it down and stomp on it. Crush that guilt under foot because we have a Jesus who loves it when we do so.
Written by Roger Bothwell on May 29, 2013
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org