Your Sins Are Not Being Recorded
Hebrews 8:12
12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
I once read a comic book which showed how a man lusted after a woman, then died of a heart attack and went to heaven. In heaven, he saw a big screen showing everyone present a recording of all the sins which he had committed while on earth, including the last one. How embarrassing!
Don’t worry, that is not going to happen to you in heaven. There is no big screen with front-row and circle seats for everyone to sit and watch your past sins. There is no video recorder in heaven recording your sins right now. Because your lifetime of sins has already been punished in the body of Jesus, God declares to you, “Your sins and lawless deeds, I will by no means ever remember!”
This is true even for the Old Testament heroes of faith such as Abraham, Moses and David. If you read Hebrews 11, which was written after the cross of Jesus, you will notice that there is no record of their sins or failures. Yet, their life stories tell us that they were far from perfect.
Abraham lied twice about his wife Sarah. He told Pharaoh, and later, King Abimelech, that she was his sister to protect his own life. Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew, and hid the body in the sand. David committed adultery with Bathsheba and later arranged for her husband to be killed in battle. Yet, their sins were not recorded in Hebrews 11, only their deeds done in faith!
God is showing you that He does not record your sins or failures today. Instead, He records your faith confessions and deeds done in response to what His Son has done for you. Every time you sin, every time you waver in your faith, God does not record it. But every time you believe Him and respond in faith, He records it! That should not make you want to sin more. It should free you to love God more!
So don’t be conscious of your failures. If God Himself does not remember them, who are you to remember them? Be conscious instead of your righteousness in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), and you will reign in life! (Romans 5:17)
Jesus Delights In You Drawing From Him
John 4:32
32But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”
When people make demands on you or keep depending on you, you may end up stressed, tired and irritable. But this is not the case with Jesus. When people draw from Him, He is strengthened and refreshed!
Jesus is, after all, God. And you honour God when you take your place as man and let God be God by drawing from Him. The One who said, “I did not come to be served, but to serve,” (Matthew 20:28) loves it when you allow Him to minister to you.
The Bible tells us that when Jesus arrived at Sychar, He was wearied from the journey and rested at a well. A sinful Samaritan woman then came to the well to draw water. Jesus ministered to her and she left rejoicing with the promise of living water. The disciples, having returned with food for Jesus, found Him already strengthened and refreshed. When they wondered who had given Him food while they were away, He told them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” (John 4:1–42)
Today, when you draw from Jesus and let Him minister to you, it is “food” for Him that “refreshes” and “strengthens” Him.
But it takes humility for us to allow Jesus to minister to us. We take pride in doing things for the Lord. We want to build our businesses, families and ministries for Him. All that is good, but without Jesus, we are spiritually bankrupt! We really have nothing to give to the Lord and His work. What we need to do first is to receive from Him because when we freely receive from Him, we are able to freely give. (Matthew 10:8)
My friend, Jesus wants to minister to you. Don’t try to minister to yourself. That is pride and self-righteousness. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day, who felt that they did not need Him and that they could provide for themselves, were the ones who could not receive from Him. So bring to Him your needs and say, "Lord, I need to draw from You. I present my needs to You. Minister to me and meet my needs. I cannot, but You can. Thank you, Lord."