Hebrews 10:14-18
“For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For after He says:
This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws on their hearts and write them on their minds,
He adds: I will never again remember their sins and their lawless acts.
Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.”
In 1880 James Garfield was elected president of the United States. After only six months in office he was
shot in the back with a revolver. He never lost consciousness. At the hospital the doctor probed the wound to find the bullet, he even used his little finger. He couldn’t find it, so later he used a silver-tipped probe. Still, the bullet could not be found.
Later in D.C. the president continued to become weaker. Teams of doctors tried to find the bullet, probing the wound over and over. Even Alexander Graham Bell, who was working on perfecting the telephone was brought in to see if he could locate the metal inside President Garfield’s body. Like all the others, he also failed.
The President held on through July and then August, but in September, sadly, he died.
What led to the President’s death wasn’t the wound itself. Nor was it the metal bullet somewhere inside of the wound. The repeated probing to find the bullet resulted in an infection that ultimately caused the President’s death.
The continued examination of old wounds reminds me of a tendency each of us have to varying degrees. Repeated feelings of guilt and shame as we examine the failures in our past. Many of us continue to dwell on our past sins or the sins of others and continue to examine them. Christians need to be reminded of the “cure” for sin we have been given in Christ.
We often forget to ask the Lord for forgiveness. This forgiveness is intended to be absolute and complete. No further probing will need to be done, no more sacrifices made to remove it.
Continued dwelling on sin, only makes it worse. It can become a crippling habit.
Jesus made the perfect sacrifice for sin. If we confess our sin to Him He is faithful to forgive that sin. He also asks us to forgive others with this same amazing measure.
1 John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
So beware of dwelling and obsessing over sin without taking it to the Lord.
Once you have given it to Him, stop probing it and let Him heal the wound.
He wants you to deal with it today, before the problem gets worse.
John 8:36
“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
There is no shame or blame, only forgiveness and freedom in Christ.
Now walk in it!
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