All week we have been looking at the Collect (prayer) for
the Third Sunday of Advent. We have been thinking about how the great might and
power of God very often change the direction of our lives. This can be in big ways,
or in small.
Paul was another person in the Bible whose life was
radically changed when he encountered the grace and mercy of God. In the First
Letter to Timothy he recounts, “even
though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor.
Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of
our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in
Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of
all.” (1 Timothy 1:13-15)
Our past doesn’t matter to God. It is our present actions
that God can work in and through. As the picture today reminds us, “your sins
are forgiven”. Every moment of every day we are forgiven for those things ‘done
and left undone’ (as another prayer says). Because of that we can move forward
in joy to greet the coming Lord of All.
Do you remember that you are forgiven, or do you think there
are some things that God just cannot forgive? Remember-God forgives EVERY thing
when we repent.
