Lenten Devotional...March 27

"If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you."

(Psalm 130:3-4)

Have you ever known someone who kept a record of all your failures? Most likely, they didn't have an actual book or ledger they turned to in listing your faults. They probably didn't need one...they had them all memorized, color-coded, easily placed in the forefront of their thinking where you were concerned, ready to remind you at a moment's notice of the things you had done wrong. Perhaps you have known such a person who felt it was his or her responsibility to keep you in your place, constantly reminding you about the things you have done wrong. Self-esteem is not their concern.

If anyone has a right to keep record of human failure, it would be God. As Creator, God has endured the continuing rebellion of his human creation. That rebellion has cost God deeply. One would understand if the halls of heaven were filled with seemingly unending volumes of sin records with the name of every person and every sin ever committed listed there. It would make for some interesting, if not damning reading.

The Psalmist, however, paints a different picture in our text today. God's record-keeping could produce unbearable burden for the individual and for the entire human race, yet, God seems not to be interested in the sordid details of our sin. With God, the Psalmist says, "there is forgiveness." One of the great tragedies of our human experience is that we too often seem consumed with what God is willing to forget. We confront ourselves and others again and again with our, and their failures, all the while diminishing the value of what God has created.

Hope will never be found in the keeping of sinful lists...hope will always be found in the forgiving and forgetting grace of God.

Prayer: For your forgiveness that erases my sinful record, I give you thanks, O God. Amen.

Jim Abernathy