“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2
Have you ever tried to run a race while looking backward? That would be difficult to do! Yet, that’s what many believers are doing when they allow their past mistakes, sins and failures to halt their progress in the race they’ve been called to run!
We ALL have a past! We have all failed! We have all had embarrassing moments we would like to forget about. We all have regrets and tinges of guilt from time to time. Looking back is what dissolves our strength and evaporates our faith! The Bible has a solution for what lies behind all of us – the Blood of Jesus!
The Apostle Paul said, “… this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14) It’s because of the sacrificial Blood of Jesus that Paul was not only able to say that, but to do it – continually and authoritatively!
The Blood is what bought us forgiveness of sins, our redemption, and our salvation! The Blood is what gave us legal grounds of approach to God! The Blood erased heaven’s records of all our sins and failures, and indelibly inscribed our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life! The Blood is what satisfied heaven’s demands for Justice, blotting out the ordinances that were against us, ordinances we were incapable of keeping! The Blood settled all of it! The Blood speaks for us always in heaven before the Mercy Seat! The Bible says it “…speaks better things than that of Abel.” (Hebrews 12:24)
He didn’t do all that so we could look back feeling sorry about our sins and our past! He did it to separate us from our sins, and from our past! He did it legally and there is no case that can be brought against us that will hold any weight in the Court of Heaven. That’s because judgment has already come down from God! That is the judgment that fell on Jesus, who PAID IT ALL – IN FULL! So, if you’re looking in the rearview mirror to see if your sin is catching up to you, just be assured of this: As far as God is concerned, your sins don’t even exist!
So, look to Jesus, He is the author and refiner of your faith, not your guilt! Look to the wonderful future He bought for you and keep reaching and pressing forward to the wonderful life He bought for you! It’s yours to enjoy with Him!
With Love,
Pastor Tom