The number of letters and messages I’ve received thanking me for my devotional book Daily Prayer and its sequel Daily Prayer 2 constantly encourages me to keep on writing new material. Here’s a session from the latter, concerning the theme of the new beginnings – the clean sheet – that God makes possible in Christ. I hope it may speak to and inspire you.
Read
If you, Lord, were to keep an account of our sins, who could lift up their head before you? In you, though, is forgiveness, so you are to be worshipped. Psalm 130:3, 4
Ponder
I’d made one change after another, amending first this sentence, then that, until the page in front of me was a mass of corrections, virtually impossible to read. It looked a shambles, and there was no way I could submit it as it was, so I took a fresh piece of paper and started again.
If only it were as easy to put things right when we make a mess of life, but of course it’s not. The mistakes we make there go much deeper and have infinitely more far-reaching consequences than a few errors in spelling, punctuation or phraseology. Like it or not, many of our mistakes live with us for the rest of our lives, having repercussions long after the event. That doesn’t mean, though, that we should wrestle with a burden of guilt, nor that we cannot move forward to new horizons. The message of the gospel is that God offers us a clean sheet through Christ; he is ready at any moment not only to forgive but also to forget, to put our mistakes and faults, in his eyes at least, irrevocably behind us. However often we get things wrong, he can put them right, making possible a fresh start each and every day.
Ask yourself
Do you still dwell on past mistakes? Is it time you put them behind you? Have you understood and accepted God’s forgiveness, or are you harder on yourself than he is?
Pray
Loving God, thank you for your willingness to forgive, not just once but again and again, repeatedly offering a clean sheet and a fresh start, however often I get things wrong. Thank you for the assurance that your mercy will never be exhausted and your patience never end, for you are a God whose nature is always to pardon; slow to anger and swift to bless. Amen.
Remember
The Lord is merciful and gracious, overflowing with steadfast love and not easily riled. He does not constantly accuse or for ever nurse his anger, nor does he deal with us according to our sins or repay us for our mistakes. His unswerving love towards those that fear him is as great as the heavens are high above the earth; he banishes our faults from us as far as the east is from the west. Psalm 103:8-12
Close
Lord, I will let go of the past – my mistakes, my regrets, my worries, my misjudgements – for you have made me new. In that great truth I will live, move and have my being. Amen!