The Good Ole Days

Scripture:
Psalm 32:1-7 (NASB)

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!

When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.
I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.
Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.

Devotional:

Each and every person has made mistakes in life.  Some people look back on life and are full of regrets.  Other people don’t even look back.  There are times when we feel the weight of the world resting upon our shoulders.  Like King David we groan under the weight pressing in.  We feel drained or sapped of all strength.  In high school I loved to run.  My freshman year I ran cross country.  I was one of the most improved runners on the team.  For several reasons I never ran cross country again after that year.  I have always regretted not running on the team again.  Other regrets in life are from bad choices I have made.  Looking back over your life I am sure you will find your own closet full of skeletons.

Regardless of our decisions of the past we do not have to live a life looking back over our shoulders.  We don’t have to live with the weight of regret and sin bearing down upon us.  Confessing our sins to God will lift that weight right off our shoulders.  We do not have to live in the past wishing our lives away over decisions made decades ago.  Ask God for forgiveness and then move on.  We don’t have to forget but we do need to get over it.  God has forgiven us.  He remembers our sins no more.  That isn’t because He is forgetful but because He chooses not to remember.  Psalm 103:12 (NASB) “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

Do not pine your life away reminiscing of the past.  It seems that each generation looks upon its past as the so called “good ole days.”  If you keep your focus on God no matter what you are going through today can be “the good ole days.”  Confess your sins and mistakes.  It doesn’t matter how far back you have to go ask God to forgive.  He is a merciful God willing and waiting to do so.  All you have to do is ask.  Then let the weight fall off…