"No Fishing"

Jeremiah 50.20 The Message

“In those days and at that time” — God’s Decree — “they’ll look high and low for a sign of Israel’s guilt — nothing; Search nook and cranny for a trace of Judah’s sin — nothing. These people that I’ve saved will start out with a clean slate.”

Sometimes I think I am more aware of my sin than God is. I can easily dredge up old memories of past failures and willful offenses. I am conscious of my imperfections but apparently God is less so. He cannot even remember the sins He forgives…

“I will forgive their

iniquity, and their sin I will

remember no more.”
Jeremiah 31.34 NAS

This is good news for sinners. The blood of Christ covers my transgressions and literally hides them from God. The Bible says, “Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all wrongs” (Proverbs 10.12 NIV). That’s exactly what the love of God does for me. It covers my sins! “They’ll look high and low for a sign of [my] guilt” and “search nook and cranny for a trace of [my] sin” and this is what they’ll find — “nothing!”

When my children were little they sometimes had “accidents” in the middle of the night. In the morning their mother and I would strip the bed of all linens and disinfect the rubber mattress cover. Before guests were allowed into the bedroom, we covered all evidence of bed wetting. They found no tell-tale yellow stain. Just fresh sheets and blankets. We protected our kids from the embarrassing incident. When Mom and I peered into the bedroom, we saw the newly made bed and forgot all about the “accident.” Our ‘love covered all wrongs.’  You could “look high and low for a sign of [our children’s] guilt — nothing; search nook and cranny for a trace of [their] sin — nothing.” 

The analogy breaks down.  Bed-wetting is not a sin, but I am a sinner. Still, nighttime accidents, however, serve as a useful illustration... God is determined to cover my sin with His love. Jesus paid the price for my redemption with His own blood. “For God so loved [me], that He gave His only... Son, that [if I believe] in Him [I] shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3.16). Like the bumper sticker says, “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven,” so I should concentrate more on God’s ample forgiveness than my imperfections. Through faith in Christ, my sins are forgiven and forgotten. They are gone.

“He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our
iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”
Micah 7.19 NKJV

God has thrown “all our sins into the depths of the sea.” I should post for myself a “No Fishing” sign.