As Far as the East is From the West...

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him."  Psalm 103:11-13 (NASB)

I imagine a globe spinning, you know, the kind we use in classrooms all over the world.  As I spin the globe I realize that one can always go east.  We can always go west as well.  So in essence, we can say that the east is infinitely far away from the west and visa versa.   So how far is the east from the west? It is an infinite distance.  That is how far the Father removes our sins from us if we have been forgiven.  He tosses our sins into the sea and remembers them no more if we have been forgiven.  Not only does He toss them into the sea, He puts up a sign that says, "No fishing!"

I don't know about you but all of my life I have had a tendency to drag my old sins up off of the ocean floor and rehash them.  I ask for forgiveness from the Lord again and again over the same old thing.  Now, I haven't committed the sin again (which is a whole different situation), I am just asking God to forgive again something He has already forgiven!  I think He must wonder whether I truly understand what He means when He says He has forgiven me.  If He has forgiven me and I haven't committed the same offense over again, He has forgiven me and He remembers it no more.  I need to accept His forgiveness and let it go...No Fishing allowed!

"I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more."  Isaiah 43:25 (NIV)

"The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"  John 1:29 (NASB)

"O Master, these are the conditions in which people live, and yes, in these very conditions my spirit is still alive— fully recovered with a fresh infusion of life!  It seems it was good for me to go through all those troubles. Throughout them all you held tight to my lifeline.  You never let me tumble over the edge into nothing.  But my sins you let go of, threw them over your shoulder—good riddance!"  Isaiah 38:17  (The Message)

"But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ."  Romans 3:21-24 (The Message)

Dear Lord,  Teach us to ask for Your forgiveness for our transgressions with repentant hearts.  Help us to turn away from our sins.  Thank you that You do not remember them once You have forgiven them.  Help us to see the sign that says, "No Fishing!", and leave those sins where You have put them, on the bottom of the ocean floor...