YOU CAN BE FREE

I recently read Isaiah 43:18 which says, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past." That verse seems very straightforward and easy to understand. However; it has to be balanced with the verse that says, "Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God....It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the desert until you arrived at this place.....Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deuteronomy 11:2, 5, 18-19

We are to remember what God has done for us, even His discipline toward us when we sin. So what are we to forget?

I know the hardest thing for me to forget is when I have failed God and just plain done something really stupid. Psalm 38:18 states, "I am troubled by my sin." Once we have confessed our sin to God, we are forgiven and Jeremiah 31:34 states, "I will remember their sins no more." So when we have trouble forgetting the past, scripture teaches it is not God who is causing us to be troubled by our sin. We are the ones who have not let ourselves off the hook because of our sin.

Recently I was feeling the weight of my own sin. I knew I had confessed it and God had forgiven me, but I was still carrying the burdens and shame. This is what I did. I wrote down all of the things from my past I needed to get rid of. Then I talked to me in the presence of God. I told God I knew He had forgiven me and then I said, "Marilyn, what you did was really dumb, but I forgive you and release you. You're off the hook!" Then I took the list and burned it. I truly can't even remember everything that was on the list. Now that's "forgetting the former things!"

Today rejoice that when you stand before the Father, all He will see is Jesus standing in front of you saying, "This is My forgiven child!" Do you need to make a list and get rid of it? If so, do it now so that Satan can hold nothing over your head. You can be free.

Marilyn is a wife and mother, author, and international conference and retreat speaker. She and her husband, Glen, serve as Counselors-in-Residence at America's KESWICK during the summer months.