“I — yes, I alone — am the one who blots out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.”
— Isaiah 43:25 (NLT)
Nicole forgot her math book and ran back to the classroom after school to get it. No one was there. Crossing the room, she spotted a wadded-up twenty-dollar bill and picked it up. It must have fallen out of someone’s pocket, Nicole reasoned. There was no way to tell who the money belonged to. “Finders, keepers,” she muttered, stuffing it in her pants pocket.
Halfway home, Nicole began to feel guilty. She knew she should have turned the money in to the office or left it on the teacher’s desk. It wasn’t “finders, keepers.” It was stealing. “Lord, I’m sorry,” she prayed. Nicole headed back to the school, where she turned the money into the principal’s office. She still felt guilty, though, until she read Jeremiah 31:34 (NLT): “And I will forgive their wickedness and will never again remember their sins.” Nicole decided that if God could forgive and forget her wrongdoings, then she would shake off that feeling and forget it too.
God isn’t waiting to punish you the minute you do something wrong. When you confess, God forgives your sins completely. It’s over and done with. God chooses to wipe it from his memory — and you can forget it too.
More to Explore: Joel 2:13 – 14
Girl Talk: Have you done something this week that you feel guilty about? Is there something you can do about it — right now?
God Talk: “Lord, I choose to do wrong things every day. Please forgive me for . Thank you for forgiving and forgetting. Amen.”
From Chick Chat by Kristi Holl