If all the guilt of all who ever lived was gathered together and thrown into the sea—it would be a wonderful thing. And that’s just what a gracious God still offers us: “Once again you will have compassion on us,” an ancient prophet rejoiced. “You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!” (Micah 7:19)

 

What gives a gracious Father the right to bury the record of our mistakes where no one can find them? Just this: our willingness to let Jesus carry on Himself the weight that has been crushing us. “This is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

 

By grace, our shame will sink like lead beyond the reach of light. Our foolish sins can all be buried in the Mariana Trench. The pain we’ve carried far too long will decompose among the bottom dwellers.

 

A new and joyful life awaits us—unworried by our past; unburdened from our sins. We’re moved by grace to think differently, feel passionately, and live abundantly.

 

Grace pushes all your guilty cargo overboard. So stay in grace. -Bill Knott