Heads up!

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. --Isaiah 43:18,19

Are you a prisoner of your past?  Do the former things paralyze you with fear?  May it never be!  The past can be constructive, in that we can build on it.  The past can be instructive, as we can learn from it.  But the past should never be destructive of our present or of our future.

Yes, some of the decisions we make have long-lasting consequences.  We may hate ourselves for making them.  Yet through God in Christ we can replace our self-hate with his love.  "Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us that we should be called the sons of God." (1 John 3:1).  His love can take a wrecked relationship and make it new.  "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end.  They are new every morning.  Great is Thy faithfulness!" (Lamentations 3:22,23).

Two Sundays ago, our pastor made an interesting distinction.  Many times in the Bible we read the promise, "I will remember your sins no more."  We tend to mis-read that, because our minds are trained in opposites.  The opposite of "remember" is "forget".  So we think that God forgets our sin.  That is not true.  It is not God's nature to forget, for he is all-knowing.  The promise that he will remember our sins no more indicates a conscious decision on God's part--he chooses not to recall our sins.  How wonderful our human relationships would be if we would follow God's example in this fashion.  Many of us say, "I'll forgive, but I can't forget."  That means we choose to recall the trespass.  It sits in the back of our minds and marinates.  If we let it stew long enough, but keep it bottled up, any little thing might make us explode.  "Honey, would you please pick up the dry cleaning on your way home.  Try to remember; write it down.  I don't want you to forget, like YOU FORGOT THAT YOU LOVED ME AT THE BEACH THAT SUMMER WHEN YOU WERE EYEING THAT BLOND IN THE RED BIKINI!!!" 

Do not dwell in the past.  The Hebrews in the Old Testament were traditionalists.  They always remembered being rescued from slavery in Egypt.  But when they were carried off into exile by their neighbors from the north, God told them to keep hope fresh and alive, not because of what God had done in the past, but because of what he was doing in the present.  Jeremiah 16:14-15 says, "However, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when men will no longer say, 'As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,' but they will say, 'As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites out of the land of the north and out of the countries where he had banished them.' For I will restore them to the land I gave their forefathers."  He wants us to look up to Him for His provision, not over our shoulders for lessons from the past.

Jesus came to foment a sea-change in our relationship with God.  The Jews would not believe it, for they were stuck in their old ways.  "But if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away, behold the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17).  Embrace the new.  Do not be tied to tradition.

The graphic at the beginning of this piece references Revelation 21:5, "He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!'  Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.' "  Acts 2:17 promises that "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams."  Traditionalists will point back to Advent, the first time that the Holy Spirit came upon multiple people at one time.  This is described later in Acts chapter two, and was evidenced by them speaking in languages that all present could understand.  Some, however, see this prophesy coming true in our own time.  It is true that we are closer now to the coming of our Lord to establish His kingdom on Earth, closer than we have ever been before.  Who is to say that the Spirit is not moving in a fresh way among us?  

In the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25, Jesus told of two different groups--The five who were unprepared had their lamps, but their oil had run out and their wicks were burned down.  They were living in the past, hoping that the lamps would not need trimming.  The five who were prepared had oil set aside, for they were looking to the future.  All slept, but maybe those who had no oil were dreaming of things past; perhaps those who were prepared were dreaming of the future.  When the bridegroom arrived, the forward-looking girls were included in the wedding feast.

Do not miss the marriage-supper of the Lamb by being imprisoned by the past, or by being tied to traditions.

Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.  Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.  Who is he, this King of Glory? The Lord Almighty--he is the King of glory. --Psalm 24:7-10