“Failures, problems, bad decisions — we have all suffered from them.”

A thought by Rick Warren from his book. God's Power to Change Your Life (Living with Purpose) (p. 14). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

That is the truth, isn’t it?

Rick says, “A lot of people feel that way about life: ‘I’ve made so many mistakes. I wish I could just wipe them out and start over.’  Failures, problems, bad decisions — we have all suffered from them. But some people just can’t seem to let go of the past, and as a result, they let their past limit their present opportunities. They live in a constant state of regret, continually lamenting, ‘If only I hadn’t done that’ or ‘If only I had made these changes.’ They repeatedly second-guess themselves. And they are tormented by painful memories. ‘I blew it, and I’m going to be paying for it the rest of my life.’”

Many of you may feel that way as we head into the last month of 2018.  You look back at this year at all of your failures and wonder what is the use?  2019 will be the same.  But it doesn’t have to be. 

Rick goes on, “God says that it is unnecessary for us to go around with a heavy load of guilt, old hurts, and memories of mistakes. In Colossians 2:13 – 14 he says he has forgiven all our sins and canceled every record of the debt we had to pay. He did it by allowing Christ to be nailed to the cross.

“Jesus Christ knows the things we have done wrong, but he did not come to rub them in. He came to rub them out. He did not come to condemn us; he came to change us. A clean slate is possible! Think in terms of my son’s Etch A Sketch. If he makes a mess of a design or picture, all he has to do is flip it over to wipe the slate clean; then he can start all over again. The Bible says this is what God does with the mistakes we have made. When we come to him, he wipes the slate clean.

“In Jeremiah 31:34 God says to the Israelites that he ‘will remember their sins no more.’ This has to be one of the most amazing statements in the Bible — that the God who made the world ‘forgets.’ When we come to him, admit our sins, and ask him to forgive us, he cancels our past.”

Rick then says, “God chooses to forget our wrongs, our mistakes, our failures. That’s good news! Even if we were to die tonight and stand before God in heaven, we could ask him about some sin we committed yesterday, and he would say, ‘What sin?’ He has canceled our past and set us free to get on with the present.

Do you want the gift of change?  Is that what you really want this Christmas?  This is where you start.  Just come to him, admit your sins, ask him to forgive you and believe that he has heard you and he has canceled your past.  What a tremendous gift.  This is the season of giving.  Would you do that today?

Yes, yes!