One evening at dinner my 12-year-old son, Brian, began to "tell"
on his
younger sister. He related to me several instances in which Caitlin,
3, had
lied to her father to keep from being reprimanded.
I turned to my daughter,
leaned close to her face and said, "Caitlin,
you know it is wrong to tell stories. Telling stories is lying,
and lying is
a sin." Without hesitating, she leaned in even closer and replied,
"But,
Mommy, Jesus takes away my sins."
I was struck by the
soundness of her theology. She had such a clear
understanding of what Jesus had done for her on the cross that
she knew she
was forgiven even though she had done wrong. Her confidence was
so complete
she gave no thought at all to the prerequisites for forgiveness--conviction
and repentance--but nevertheless, I believe she was a step ahead
of most
adult believers.
How many Christians
do you know who just can't seem to grasp the
truth of 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful
and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"
(NIV)? We
know Jesus died for us, but we have difficulty accepting His
forgiveness even
when we repent and ask Him for it--and the "bigger" we perceive
our sins to
be, the more trouble we have. As a result, we walk around under
a yoke of
condemnation we were never meant to bear--a yoke that steals
our joy and
prevents us from experiencing the reality of God's love for us.
Judas, the disciple
who betrayed Jesus, was like that. He was so
overcome by the magnitude of the sin he had committed that he
lost sight of
God's love as expressed through Jesus. He must have thought God
could never
forgive him, for he ended up taking his own life.
Peter, on the other
hand, though also devastated by his "big"
sin--denying Jesus--continued to carry out the purpose for which
God had
called him. He experienced remorse but did not allow it to destroy
him. He
seemed to understand that even what he had done was forgivable.
Are you a Judas or
a Peter? The truth is, there is nothing you have
ever done--no matter how "big"--that God cannot or will not forgive,
provided
you are repentant. That's the message of the cross! Jesus has
already paid
the price, and He is waiting to set you free.