Twenty-four years of old bank statements filled our cupboard. It was time to shred. Year after year of long useless information disappeared into jagged bits of paper. “Ah,” I thought, “just like my sins. If Isaiah had known about paper shredders surely he would have used the word shredded instead of blotting.” But just then while disposing of year seventeen the shredder broke. There I was with seven years of bank accounts left on my lap.
Maybe blotting would have been better. One big splash of ink and they would have been gone. The metaphor is not adequate unless all the records are gone. When Jesus forgives us He is not selective. Sins are not categorized into benign and malignant. There are no white lies and gross injustices. Sin is sin. And just one can and will keep us out of the Kingdom. But please do not despair. Keep reading. Please. John, Jesus’ disciple, a son of thunder, wrote, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9. Please do not miss the word “all”. Heinous crimes are included. He saves to the uttermost. Hebrews 7:25.
The truth is there is no metaphor adequate to describe what is given to us. It is beyond language and imagination. When we see the glories of eternity and see with our own eyes just what it was that Jesus left behind that He might be born in a fly-filled, maggot infested cattle stable only then will the light really come on in our minds. Perhaps the most difficult thing about this is our pride. We want so much to do it ourselves. We can’t. Therefore accept His gift to you.
Written by Roger Bothwell on December 20, 2012
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