Hennie Symington

For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. Jeremiah. 31:34c

For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law but under grace. Romans 6:15

When God opens the books at the end of time, as it is described in Revelation 20:12, will he call our sins to mind in his divine memory?

Perhaps one should look at it in this way: God has not deleted his “hard drive” or “memory bank” but he chooses not to call to mind our iniquities. In Jeremiah 31:34 we read that God forgives sins and no longer remembers them. Not calling them to mind, is different from forgetting. It means not making an effort to recall something. And that is what God does when we sin.

We will always harbour painful reminders of our wrongdoing which cause ripples in our lives for many years at times. However, through God’s grace we do not have to constantly dwell on our past sins.

In many places in the Bible God reminds us that our transgressions are in the past. He removes them from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). We are not to bring up those sins again. Also, God places no statute of limitation on forgiveness. The miracle of God’s forgiveness however, is that we can start on a clean slate every day.

Prayer: Lord, the thought of living with our sins for the rest of our lives, is unbearable. Thank you that you not only forgive but choose to forget. Teach us to forgive also in the same way. Amen