So a few minutes ago as I was cleaning, I was listening to a song by Ray Boltz called "One Drop of Blood". The premise of the song is that in the courts of life, when persecuted and reminded of our mistakes, we're covered by the sacrifice of Christ. By the shedding of His blood, we are saved.
He pointed to the corner
Where the scales of justice stood
I saw so many failures there
There was nothing good
And in that very moment
When it seemed all hope was lost
I said, I plead the blood of Jesus
And his death upon the cross
One drop of blood
Fell to the scales
It covered my transgressions
And all the times I failed
The enemy was mighty
He came in like a flood
He was defeated by one drop of blood
And this got me thinking on two interesting facts. Basically, I'm not saved by any measure of my own works. Like, I can't say I'm saved from the judgment I deserve by my own plans or schemes. I have to humble myself and admit the only way I am saved is by Christ.
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Galatians 6:14
I love what it says there. I cannot make any claim to myself or to anything except the sacrifice and love of my Lord. It's humbling. To know the only thing, the only evidence in court you can give is the death of someone else. Someone who took the consequence, the guilty verdict for you. And by that, you're free. There's a whole other theological expounding that can/should/will probably be done (later) but I wanted to ge tthis part out just for now.
Second thing I realized is this: you're free and you're past is the past. You've received absolution by God. Does that mean mankind won't remember your shortcomings? Course not. If you're like me you've made some blunders that were quite public or became public and you may have to shoulder the fact that people will remind you of them. But take heart! That's the past! God has forgotten it, and all He has for you is your future and present. "Mankind remembers but God forgives" is something I remind myself that I came up with.
"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Man that's one of my favorite verses to lean on and remember. It says nothing about my past but my present. That the Lord is mindful of me, that He has plans for my future. There's no worries about my past. The past is the past, it's gone away.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17
