Dear Friend,
The other day I was helping a friend paint their hallway. This hallway was last painted about 30 years ago, and during those years many people walked in that hallway. Furniture was moved down that hallway, and little girls ran to their rooms carrying their dolls and food. Grown-ups dragged and lugged luggage down that hallway, and little boys wrestled and played tag there. And the walls definitely looked it. Scuff marks, shoe marks, food marks and finger prints all combined to make a pretty interesting pattern. 30 years is a long time, and that hallway certainly showed it.
But in about three minutes it was all gone. I put together my paint sprayer, filled it up with some nice off-white paint, and covered all those marks and scuffs. And they were gone. The family was surprised at the results. They made comments like "it looks like a completely different place!" and "it looks all new again!"
That hallway is a lot like yours and my past record. Every time we sin, a mark is made in our records. It's all there. And we each will face our records one day. There are those who don't believe they'll have to face their past, but that is like the man that went speeding down his local street, sure that the local policeman was off that day. He was sincere, but he was sincerely wrong. And someday each of us will face our life record.
And the question is: What will we find? What will be recorded there? Everything we have ever said, done, and thought, as well as all the motives behind them. Just like that hallway that carried the record of the last 30 years, there's a record of all your years and days and minutes, and everything that happened in them. Kind of scary, isn't it?
But there's good news. And here it is. I'm not going it to tell you myself, but let God tell you in His words. Check it out:
"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." Isaiah 1:18
Just like paint that covers up all the past and made that hall look brand new again, so God will paint over our past. Isn't that good news? Here, read some more:
You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. Psalm 86:5
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 103:11, 12
"I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more." Isaiah 43:25
"I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you." Isaiah 44:22
"Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will freely pardon." Isaiah 55:7
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
"Do not judge and you will not be judged? Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." Luke 6:37
Your past can be covered up! It can be painted over, so to speak, like that old hallway. God promises to do it! So take some time right now, and ask forgiveness for your sins. Ask Jesus to take control of your life, and do this every single day; asking Him to forgive the sins of that day. And He will.
When the judgment comes, and we have to face our life's record, what will it show? The choice is ours today, right now, to either cover the record, or to let the record stand, and face the penalty for our sins.
Have a great week! I'm praying for you.
Mark
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