“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;”
Ephesians 2:1
When I was eleven years old, I stayed the night at a friend’s house one Friday after school.
This friend was a terrible influence on me and often did things that I didn’t like.
He was crude and disrespectful to authority. He had reckless behavior and a devious, conniving mind all of the time.
We woke up that Saturday morning and went out into the woods behind his house. He led me to an old trail and said that he had a plan and we needed to be really quiet.
Well, I could certainly do that.
Having grown up in the country, the woods were my home.
I could move quickly and quietly when necessary.
We stalked our way up a small rise and he told me to stay low as we came to the top.
Peering over the edge, I saw the back of a beautiful old barn there in the woods.
It had weathered gray boards and glass pane windows.
Very serene and idyllic.
Someone’s pride and joy.
He got really excited and started whispering with a hissing tone:
“I can’t stand this neighbor. He gives me and my brother a hard time. Let’s break out those windows!”
He found some rocks and started launching them…missing miserably.
It was almost comical. The more he missed the funnier it was as they’d “thud” off the barn wall.
I had great aim and athleticism at the time, so I bent down and picked up a rock to throw. I didn’t even want to break windows, but wanted to impress my friend and prove that I wasn’t a wimp.
I launched it. Barely missed.
I launched another one. SMASH!
I’ll NEVER forget that noise.
I had instant guilt and shame over my (literal) trespassing and sin.
We ran hard and fast back through the woods to his house.
That glass window shattering is etched into my mind along with the sights and sounds of 1,000 other sins.
Despite my immense record (and memory) of trespasses and sins, God took my dead, guilty soul and gave me new life when I turned to Christ for forgiveness and cleansing.
Some sins stick with you.
I live with most of mine, that’s the curse of a good memory.
But Christ has washed me clean, and that’s the truth I stand on.
If you’ve confessed your sins but still have haunting memories of them, just stand on this promise:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9
We may not be clean in our own eyes, but through repentance, we’re clean in His eyes.
Rejoice in that, Christian!
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