1 John 2:1-2
My little children, I am telling you
this so that you will stay away from sin. But if you sin, there is
someone to plead for you before the Father. His name is Jesus Christ,
the one who is all that is good and who pleases God completely. He is
the one who took God’s wrath against our sins upon himself and brought
us into fellowship with God; and he is the forgiveness for our sins, and
not only ours but all the world’s.
The
Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois
60188. All rights reserved.
When
we were kids, my parents planted this little magnolia tree seedling in
the front yard. They were nurturing this tree and trying to get it to
grow. I would guess that it was about 2½ feet high, at best. One day
when I was probably about six or 7, the neighborhood kids gathered, and
we began to play “Jack Jump Over the Candlestick” and see who could
hurdle that little twig of a tree. My little brother Tim would have
been about 3 or four.
When it was my turn to jump, I missed, and
the top of that spindly sapling snapped. I knew right away that I was
in BIG trouble. I panicked, and when my mother discovered the mishap, I
told her that Tim did it – and she believed me. And Tim got a spanking.
I can still see him crying and pleading that he didn’t do it…and my
mother spanking him. In later years, Mother recalled that her next-door
neighbor, (who witnessed this while sitting on her front porch) tried
to defend Tim. But I had apparently done a very good job of laying the
blame on him, and Mother would not listen to the neighbor.
This
incident grieved me for YEARS. I was so guilt-ridden over how I
betrayed my little brother. Before Tim died, I wrote him a long letter,
and we read it together. One of the things I addressed was the
“Magnolia Tree Incident.” I am not sure Tim even remembered it…but I
begged him to forgive me – and of course, he did. Today, that magnolia
tree is enormous and towers far above the roof of my mother’s house. It
produces beautiful, big white blossoms…and I totally detest its
existence!
You see, I have still not completely forgiven myself
for that event. Even though my brother completely forgave me…I cannot
forgive myself – and I surely cannot forget what happened. And here’s
the thing…this is how many of us are treating a lot of our sins. We
have confessed them to God…we have begged forgiveness…and it has been
granted. Jesus has completely washed the sin clean…it is over and
done. But we are still wallowing in guilt and shame.
Today needs
to be the day that we fully “let go and let God”…that we allow Jesus’
blood to wash us clean, once and for all…and we leave our burdens and
mistakes at the foot of the cross. Until we do this, we cannot really
disciple anyone else. We cannot effectively witness to others about the
grace, mercy, forgiveness and love of Jesus until we fully embrace
these blessings for ourselves.
So today is THE DAY to leave
EVERYTHING behind…to completely give our past to Jesus and step up and
out into the bright light of a hopeful, promising future with Him! I am
more than ready to do this…what about you?
©2016 Debbie Robus
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