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God’s Gracious Forgetfulness

                I like those “Spot the Difference” puzzles where you are shown two almost identical pictures and then must figure out what changed from one to the other.  In a Biblical version of that game, I am going to give you a passage of scripture that retells an Old Testament story.  Your job is to tell me what detail has been left out.
                “By faith Abraham, even though he was past age – and Sarah herself was barren – was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.  And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore” (Hebrews 11:11-12).                
                  What is missing?  In the original telling, Abraham and Sarah laughed when the promise was given.  However, they did not laugh with joy.  Instead, they laughed in doubt.  “Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, ‘Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?  Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety-nine?’” (Genesis 17:17)   Genesis 18:12 says, “Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, ‘After I am worn our and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?’”
                Importantly, when God retells their story in Hebrews, he highlights their faithfulness and not their failure.  He remembers their trust and forgets their doubt.  Now, this should not be surprising because God said that a time was coming when “I… will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).
                God does not overlook our sins because is he soft or forgetful.  He negates them because he dealt with them.  He paid the debt.  They no longer exist (see both Hebrews 8 and 10 where the phrase “I will remember their sins no more” is expanded and explained).   If we have put on Christ in baptism (Galatians 3:26-27), we are washed clean. 
                Therefore, if God does not remember your sins and failures, why do you?  Why are you holding onto that list and beating yourself for things that happened years ago? 
                Your past does not have to be your future.  At the cross, God offers a new start and a new life for this new year.
                “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).

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