TODAY IS…

the day God gives us the freedom to forget.

“And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”  Hebrews 10:17 KJV

How many of us have felt as if we are being restrained from moving forward? Like there is a ball and chain around our ankle. Some would say that they are carrying around a lot of “baggage”.

Sometimes the promise of tomorrow eludes us because we simply cannot seem to get out of the past.

There are many reasons we may feel this way. Our own guilt is very often a primary cause of inability to get on with our lives. Frequently we will find that we are our own biggest obstacle. Even when we feel that the opinion other people may have of us or something we did in the past is keeping us from making progress in our lives, if we examine it closely, it comes back to us.

Sometimes we simply give those around us incredible power over us.

But let us be realistic about whose opinion is truly important, and who has real power over us. The answer is the same in both instances.

Only God.

The Bible assures us that past sins are forgiven and forgotten. When we ask for forgiveness, what do we get? Forgiveness. And along with that forgiveness comes the freedom to forget, because that is what God does. He forgives and forgets, and allows us to unchain ourselves from our guilt and move on.

Whenever we see another believer who appears to be wrapped up in the past, we must reach out to them and help them remove the blinders from their eyes that keep them from seeing that God has removed the ball and chain from their leg or emptied their excess baggage so now they can set the bags down and move on.

If it is ourselves who are the ones afflicted, we need to read God’s Word for reassurance that with our sincere repentance and our request for forgiveness comes freedom given by God: the freedom to move forward, and the freedom to forget.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson