11/09/2007


Micah 7:18 - 19 (HCSB)

18    Who is a God like You,
     removing iniquity and passing over rebellion
     for the remnant of His inheritance?
     He does not hold on to His anger forever,
     because He delights in faithful love.
19    
He will again have compassion on us;
     He will vanquish our iniquities.
     You will cast all our sins
     into the depths of the sea.

Have you ever had an argument with a sibling or spouse and they bring up past events.  At times you feel like you can never get past what has been done.  Something you did in poor judgment continually rises up against you.  We can be thankful that we have a God who erases our sins from His memory.  Although we make poor judgments and we sin, when we seek His forgiveness, He promises to “cast all our sins into the depth of the sea.” 

These words were written at a time when the sea was a complete mystery.  Men could construct boats and sail across its surface but could only speculate what took place beneath in it’s murky depths.  Even now, with our incredibly sophisticated technology, we struggle to reach the bottom of the ocean, and do so at great peril.  The point is that our sins have been placed so far from our reach that they cannot be brought up again.  But this is how God chose it to be.  Why?

Because He delights in “faithful love.”  Some translations say “He delights in showing mercy.”  Either way, we can take great comfort in knowing that our God does not preside over us with a scorecard, counting out demerits every time we fall.  Rather, he delights in those moments when He can pick us up from a fall.  But this is not a license for us to abandon trying to do good; for He delights even more in our obedience.

As Paul says:

Romans 6:1 - 2 (HCSB) 1What should we say then? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may multiply?  2Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 

God has cast our sins away and for this reason, we should strive to please Him by living righteously.

Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com 
©2007 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.

Terms of Usage:  This devotional may be copied or forwarded for personal use without permission, but must include the author, publisher, web link, and copyright notice.  Use in another published work must obtain permission first.

Previous ] Up ] Next ]