THE WHITE PAGES

Psalm 51:1-10
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are proved right when You speak and justified when You judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Surely You desire truth in the inner parts; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

At the Christian university I attended we were often addressed by the founder, a man who had been one of the popular "tent evangelists" early in the 20th century. His chapel talks were usually sprinkled with helpful sayings--some of which have been incorporated into the fabric of my own life.

One I've found to be helpful, especially for the new year, is "Remember, there are no blots on the pages of the future!" By this he was emphasizing a foundational truth of the Christian faith: God forgives us for our past sins and also helps us lead godly lives, doing things that reflect our desire to love Him and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

As you look back over the past year, you may recall some bad decisions that brought a bunch of problems into your life. You may feel ashamed and disappointed about those failures. You wish you could just erase them. Well, the truth is you can't. And you may still be living with consequences of those bad decisions. They may be shouting accusations at you: "Loser, sinner, weakling, bad Christian, bad son, bad daughter, bad friend!"

Consequences and accusations do make it more difficult to write your life on those blank pages that lie before you now. And so do our fleshly desires. But don't forget that those pages are still pure white! With God's help you can write beautiful things on each one. What's needed is your willingness to ask God's forgiveness for past sins. Then, accept His forgiveness as motivation to change your direction, to reflect what you know God wants you to do.

Lay your Bible open right next to your "daily diary" of wonderfully white pages to assist you in your walk this year. That way the blots, smears, and tear stains will be fewer every day. --Dean Ohlman

DESTINATION POINTS

* How have I been focusing on the blots in my life instead of the future blessings?
* Lord, remind me every day to be careful about what I write on the clean pages of my future.

LINKS:
Soul Journal
http://www.rbc.net/sj/sjournal

How Can I Start Over?
http://www.christianitytoday.com/cl/ 9c6/9c6016.html

bottom line: The future pages of your life are still clean.

soul journey