Scripture:
"Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the
transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay
angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have
compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our
iniquities into the depths of the sea." Micah 7:18-19
Reflection:
The
emphasis on repentance during Lent usually focuses on our part of the
process: self-examination, confession and turning from our sin. We
often miss the best part - God's part: forgiveness. John the Apostle
tells us in 1 John 1:9 that "if we confess our sins (our part)
He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness (God's part)."
The
prophet Micah says that God will "hurl all our iniquities into
the depths of the sea." Sins cast into a stream or other shallow
body of water might be retrieved, but sins hurled into the depths of
the sea will be remembered no more. Then, as Corrie Ten Boom once
said, after God casts our sins into the depths of the sea, he places
a sign that reads, "NO FISHING ALLOWED!"
Prayer:
Heavenly
Father, we thank you for your forgiveness and your forgetfulness when
it comes to our sins. We thank you that you don't care to dig up our
past and hold it over us. Help us, Lord, to forgive ourselves of
those things that you have already forgiven. Remind us that your
mercy is always greater than our sin. Grant us humble and truly
contrite hearts that our times of confession might never become
routine and insincere. Amen.
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