Eternal Treasures: Time to Let Go

"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 NIV).

One day I began thinking of all the mistakes I've made in my life. It was a painful process, rehearsing the "if onlys" and "what ifs". Guilt consumed me, condemnation overwhelmed me. I felt like I needed forgiveness all over again. I even cried out for it. But God spoke so clearly when He said, "I've removed your sins. And I've placed them in the Sea of Forgetfulness. Now you must learn to let them go."

God promises to "forgive [our] wickedness and remember [our] sins no more" (Jeremiah 31:34). But we must learn to forgive ourselves. Forgive myself? I couldn't even forget. I didn't understand how God could love me in my mess, how He could forgive my transgressions. So I went fishing. I went down to that old Sea of Forgetfulness and caught every "thing" in my past that kept me from moving into my future.

Then one day I realized: Jesus didn't want me bound to my past. He wanted me free. Free to live. Free to serve. And free to love. So I gathered every "thing" that I'd collected over the years, went down to that sea, and gave it all back. I cast it so far into the deep that I will remember it no more.

The Bible says, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV). Our past is just what it is—past! It does not dictate our present nor does it determine our future. Have you been fishing lately? Go to that sea and cast it all into the deep. Let go of your past. God has. And look to Jesus. "Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame" (Psalm 34:5).

© 2005, Mia Taylor, London, England. Check out other Eternal Treasures on her website heartsofwisdom.org