Forgiveness

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
-Psalm 103: 8-12




     The love of the Lord is hard for us to wrap our minds around. As high as the heavens are above the earth....so great is His love. It's INFINITE. Never ending. How do we comprehend something like that? 


     One of my teachers in high school used to say... "In the words of the American teenager....THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!" We often get mad when we think we don't get what we deserve.....but when you really think about it, we should THANK THE LORD for not giving us what we deserve. We are sinners, and if he "repay[ed] us according to our iniquities", it would not be pretty. He not only forgives our sins, he forgets them. He won't bring our mistakes back to haunt us the next time we make a mistake. The wrath of God was satisfied when Jesus died on the cross for our sins.


     As one of my favorite songs says, "My sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow." I love the imagery in that line. As silly as it seems, I think about how badly blood stains clothes, or how anything red stains for that matter. (Ever left a red shirt or sock in the laundry with your whites? If so, you know what I mean.) There's no going back after a mistake like that. We might feel that way about our sins sometimes. As if our mistake was so terrible, we can never right our wrong. That may be true, but our mistakes are erased by the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I think of the beauty of freshly fallen snow, and what a miracle it is that we are redeemed by God. "My sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow..."


Take a listen:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3o3DiMVdOI


     
    Let's be thankful today that "life isn't fair".


And let's keep in mind how gracious and forgiving our God is the next time someone asks for our forgiveness. Just another way we can strive to be more like Jesus.   :-)