“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19
Columbus Day! A very divisive day. Some see it at a day to honor a great Italian explorer who opened up the “New World” - you just have to ignore the Norse arrival 500 years earlier and the people living here for thousands of years. For others, the day marks the beginning of rape and pillage in the Americas - you just have to ignore the fact that the natives had been raping and pillaging each other before they crossed the Bering land bridge.
We love to hang on to the past. Some love to lionize it; other love to vilify it. As far as our relationship with God goes, this does not work. We cannot look at our good deed to gain favor with God - having been a good person doesn’t cut it. AND as equally important, our past bad deeds do not bar us from a relationship with Him when we seek forgiveness.
Through the cross, Christ is our new “explorer” who leads us into a true “New World” - a world being made new. Through forgiveness we can let go of the past - how others have sinned against us or how we have sinned against God, AND we do not have to try justifying ourselves by the good we did - which in the end is nothing more than filthy rags. Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God has done a new things - he has shown mercy to the undeserving - to all of us - for all have fallen short of the glory of God.
Prayer: “Lord God, I thank you that you do not remember the things of the past - the times I have fallen short of your glory, the times I have sinned against you and my neighbor. Lead me, by the Holy Spirit, into your eternal kingdom - the true New World - where all the past sins and strife of this world are no more. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.