HomeWord - May 8, 2008

Trash Day 
This devotional was written by Kelly McFadden

“He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.”  Psalm 103:12

Friday is trash day in our neighborhood.  That means on Thursday night, I get busy around the house throwing away about anything that is not nailed to the ground.  I collect trash from each room and rejoice as I take overflowing trashcans out to the curb to remove the clutter and junk from our home.

Then the trash man dumps all my trash into his truck and drives away with it, never to be seen by me again.  Halleluiah!  Weekly, I get to wipe my hands clean of the rubbish in my life. 

Fortunately for us, we also have a spiritual trash day.  But, instead of weekly, Jesus is willing to come daily, hourly or each minute as we ask for forgiveness to remove the trash of sin from our lives.  By His love and grace, he takes away the sin in our lives; He then dumps them at the foot of the cross and removes it from our presence permanently.  As far as the east is from the west is how far our sins have been removed from us. 

He has cleansed us of our sins, and we are clean in His presence when we ask for and accept the forgiveness He offers us.  There is no longer a need to be weighed down by the sins of the past – they are removed.  We cannot move forward with the weight of sin around our ankles.  When we ask for forgiveness, God completely removes our sin from us, never to be seen again. How great it is that God removes all the junk from within us…all we have to do is ask.  We are white as snow, we are forgiven, our record is cleared.

I am so thankful for the forgiveness the Lord has granted me.  Now, He says, go and do the same for others.  Forgive them.  Do not bring up old grievances in the heat of an argument, do not hold them over others’ heads when you need something from them, forgive them.  Remove the penalty of the sin so far from them that it is as far as the east is from the west.

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GOING DEEPER:

1. Who do you need to forgive?  What steps can you take towards doing that?

2. Ask God for His forgiveness as you need it today.

FURTHER READING:
Psalm 51:2-12; Romans 6:10-11; 1 John 1:8

Kelly McFadden currently works at Mariners Church Southern California. She and her husband Michael are the new parents of Campbell McFadden

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