"Forgetting The Past"

That is unbiblical. What if God defined people by their past and refused to use them because of their mistakes? We certainly would miss out on some major characters in the history of the Bible. Think about Moses and the man he killed when he was young to stop him from killing a fellow Jew. He felt so bad about this that Moses ran to a foreign land to hide.

But God forgot his past and prepared Moses to be a great leader of the Jewish nation. He led the people from the land of Egypt across the Red Sea freeing them forever from the hands of the Egyptians, toward the Land of Promise. And even though Moses only got to see the Land of Promise from afar, he still proved to have been a great leader.

What about King David? He is considered to be Israel’s finest king. Yet he committed adultery and had the husband of the woman who served in his army put on the front line and killed. Now those are major sins and there were consequences but God still loved and used David. And David wept and asked God’s forgiveness.

What about Peter? Jesus called Peter the “Rock.” Yet he was tempermental, a man that wore his emotions on his sleeve, always speaking his mind, not always thinking before he spoke. And what about his betrayal of Jesus before Jesus was crucified? He denied to foreigners that he even knew Jesus on three occasions for fear of what would happen to him.

And yet at the end of the Gospel of John, Jesus asked Peter if he loved him, not once, but three times to mark the three times Peter had denied him. And after Jesus death, Peter became the main spokesman for the new band of believers.

Isn’t this proof that God uses men and women that come from imperfect pasts? He doesn’t carry a grudge and throw someone away simply because they have grossly sinned in their lives. Neither should we throw away people who have sinned in our lives. We should never define ourselves or others by the past.

The past is just that – the past. God says forget it; don’t let it stop you from being useful to his kingdom. Don’t define yourself by the past. God is about the present and future. So we are to be present and future-minded followers of God.

God is a God of second chances. God is a God of new beginnings. God is ready to do something new in someone who has a blemished past. Maybe that someone is you. Maybe that someone is a person you know. Maybe that someone is a part of your family. Maybe that person is a loser in the world’s mind. Maybe that person is someone that you have given up on.

God doesn’t give up on us. He didn’t give up on Saul who became Paul. He gave him a new name and a new present and future. Why? Because Paul was open to change. Open to letting go of the past. Open to a new future. Open to beginning again. God honors people who are willing to change. He never gives up on anyone.

What are you telling yourself this morning? I am too broken to be used by God? I have a blemished past. I am defined by a less than perfect record. God responds, “Join the club. Remember Moses, David, Peter, and Paul?” And so many others who were able to change and let go of their past with the help of God.