Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Today we have a Verse of the Day that, quite frankly, just doesn't make sense. Bear with me. Part of the reason why I say that is we all know people who have, when we've done something wrong, sinned against them, or hurt them— they relive it, remind you of it, and they can hold it against you no matter how long you go down the road. They may forgive you, but there seems to always be this element of "man, I did them wrong" and there's this division between you and them.
The Grace of God
Now you take a perfect, holy God who's never done anything wrong. Everything around Him is about perfection. Yet here you have Him in this passage saying "I—yes, I alone will blot out your sin." God being God, it's like, what's there to gain from that? What's there to benefit from that? To blot out my sin. What? Why? Especially to go on and say "for My own sake" and "will never think of them again."
If there's anybody that has a right to hold my sin against me for as long as I live, it would be God. I mean, the standard of perfection that I would have to live up to for God to now not only forgive me of my sin, but actually not hold it against me—it just doesn't make sense. It's hard to understand or comprehend, but I want to focus in on part of this verse that says "for My own sake." That gives the impression that there's a benefit, and it's like, I don't get that. I don't understand it. It's confusing to me. I would love to just give a perspective of what this could be, how this could be for God's own sake.
When Brokenness Brings Glory
When you have somebody that's really talented and you just think, "They're just such a great person, they've got it all together. They epitomize success." Well, when they do something good or something that's successful or right, everyone stands back and says, "of course." Who gets the praise from that? Typically the person who's got it all together, who's very talented.
Then you have the reverse where you have somebody that all they can offer is brokenness. They've made mistakes. They hurt. They've been hurt. They may not be the most talented, but God uses them to shine His light, His love, His grace, His power, His peace, His love. Guess what? Who gets the glory from that? God Himself.
Somebody that comes to the table just like the woman who broke the oil over Jesus and wiped her hair on His feet. Jesus looks down at her and looks up at the man that hosted Him in his home and said, "You know what? Do you know why she behaves this way? Because the One who's forgiven much loves much."
Living in the Light of Forgiveness
Imagine if we started looking at ourselves and understanding the gravity of what God has forgiven us all of, no matter how good we think we are and how He's blotted it all out and doesn't hold it against us. Imagine how that could transform us today, to now live in a way that we serve others to that degree that, as Jesus said to the woman who's been forgiven much, loves much.
If we really understand this verse today, may we love much today because of so great a salvation that we've experienced in the forgiveness of our wrongdoing, to never be remembered again. May we turn that to others, and may they feel the love and forgiveness and grace that God has given us, demonstrated to them through us today.
