Friday, January 21, 2011

Joy of Things Past

We, as knowledge seeking humans, are forever looking over our shoulders at "What Could Have Been's", "What Should Have Been's", "Oh, My Why Did I??'s", and a host of other ruminations about what has happened in our lives. Looking back can give you insight but most often it simply re-condemns you for things you allowed to happen or did to others and yourself. Oh, sure there are good things that happen in life, Thank the Lord, and those are always nice to pull out of the mental filing cabinet and reminisce on the happiness and joy you felt. But more often than not, we find ourselves reminiscing about the "one that got away", the sins we committed before coming to know Jesus, or more likely, the sins we committed AFTER coming to know Jesus.

The sneaky little snake that has been around since Eden likes to remind us of the failures and sins of our pasts. He likes to point out how many times we fell, how many people we hurt, how many times we disappointed God. But I just want to take a moment today to say, "Snake, you conniving little devil, get thee behind me!" My sins, my failures of past days have been repented of, forgiven by my Father, washed in the blood of the Lamb, and when God looks at me today, He only sees a forgiven child striving to do her best to live for Him. He only sees the red stain that blots out the black sins once written in The Lamb's Book of Life. And me? I choose to look toward the future and the glorious things God has in store for my life.

What happened in the past, stays in the past. I am an overcomer through Christ and I choose to only see the Joy of Things Past!