“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.  He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” - Psalm 103:8-13 (NIV)

Many Christ followers suffer from a deep feeling of failure. We remember our sins, our failures, the regrets in our lives, and as we do, we are sure that God cannot use us for anything special and equally sure that we cannot be free from our guilty conscience. Can God be pleased with us? We are sure that others are probably way better than us, and therefore more loved by God. Even Moses felt that way after he ran away from Egypt and spent decades tending his father in law’s sheep.

For many years I struggled with the very concept of grace. I understood it theologically but not in my own experience - in my own heart. I lived with the burden that I was not good enough, as many do. Even though I asked forgiveness for my sin, it was as if the sin stuck to me and my heart did not feel free. 

I didn’t understand the nature of God well enough: that He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding or overflowing with love. I didn’t understand that He loves us with an everlasting love that is so powerful that nothing in all creation, said Paul, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

In fact, His love for us sticks to us like a magnet, and not our sin. We think that our sin cannot be fully removed, but in fact it can. It is God’s love that cannot ever be removed. “He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his  love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” The magnet is His love, not our sin. What sticks to us is His love and what is removed from us is our sin. That is grace!

His love is as great as the heavens are above the earth and He has removed our sin as far as the east is from the west. Both are statements of infinity. The heavens never quit and there is no end of the distance of the west from the east. Infinite love and infinite forgiveness. Comprehend that!

The next time you feel guilt for something in your past that you have confessed to God, remember His infinite removal of your sin. It is gone. It is gone so far that God cannot find it. It is forgiven so completely that there is nothing left. Remember, once we ask His forgiveness, our sin does not stick, it is gone, gone, gone! Remember as well, that His love for you is infinite and you are of inestimable worth in His sight. Because His love is so great, your sin is removed. What sticks is His love, never our sin.

PRAYER

Father, what can I say to You after reading this passage? Thank You for Your amazing grace in my life, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost and now am found. Was blind but now I see. Amen.