From East to West

Distance from east to west across the state of Tennessee: 440 miles.

Distance from east to west across the continental United States: approximately 3,148 miles.

Distance from east to west across Earth (diameter): approximately 8,000 miles.

Distance from east to west from the sun to Pluto (yes, I still count Pluto as part of the solar system): 5,906,376,272 kilometers.

Distance from east to west across the Milky Way: approximately 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilometers.

Distance from east to west across the visible universe: approximately 28 billion light years (one light year = 9,500,000,000,000 kilometers).

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Temptation is hard to resist, isn't it?

Think back to a time (perhaps it was recently, perhaps not) when you did something you weren't supposed to.  Maybe you took something that wasn't yours.  Said something ugly.  Looked at something you shouldn't have.

Think of how you felt just before you did it.  The appeal was so lovely, wasn't it?  It drew you in like a magnet, grabbed onto your thoughts and wouldn't let go.  If only......if only I could......

The force was just too much, and even though you knew, you knew it wasn't right, you did it anyway.

As a kid, I had an overly sensitive conscience.  I rarely got into trouble, but I had a habit of dwelling on situations and feeling guilty about them.

What if I didn't deserve the good grade I got?

What if I unintentionally hurt that person by what I said?

One time I even told a teacher to mark down a good grade I had gotten on a test because I told her I had accidentally looked at someone else's paper.  I hadn't seen any answers, but it made me feel like I had cheated, and I couldn't live with not having some sort of punishment for it.

Each week, there was something new that I obsessed about in my thought life.  Feeling guilty.  Feeling like I ought to be punished.  Feeling like I didn't deserve to be forgiven.

My mother noticed how preoccupied I had gotten with these sorts of things, and she pulled me out of my room one sunny afternoon to watch a Beth Moore video with her.  The video accompanied a Bible study my mom was doing at the time about the life of David.  I was quickly enamored with Beth's vivacious personality and engaging speaking style. 

She began to talk about David's sin of lusting after Bathsheba.  Which led to adultery.  Which led to lies.  Which led to murder.

David was looking pretty bad.  And yet, Beth said, when he finally repented--truly repented--God forgave him.  He forgave him.  Yes, his actions still had consequences (the baby he conceived with Bathsheba died), but the beautiful thing is that once God forgave him, that was it.  He didn't hold it against him.

And you know what else?  God even called David a man after His own heart! 

Really?  A liar?  An adulterer?  A murderer?  You've got to be kidding!

But it's true!  If we're ready to come back to Him, He's ready to take us back.  And He loves us no less.

Looking back, I really don't think I had done anything truly wrong in those instances that I mulled over as a kid (I know that those thoughts weren't healthy, and I no longer have those).  But there have certainly been times in my life where I have committed a sin...and even though I knew it was wrong, I did it anyway.  And I kept doing it. 

Gossip.  Destructive speech.  Arrogance.  Judging others.

And time and time again, the Holy Spirit will prick my heart and remind me that I really shouldn't be doing it.  And when I fall to my knees in repentance, I don't have to fear that He'll cross His arms and turn a cold shoulder to me.

Quite the opposite!

Listen to the glorious words of Psalm 103: 8-10, 12:

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger and full of faithful love.
He will not always accuse us
or be angry forever.
He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve
or repaid us according to our offenses.

As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Is there something you've done that you feel terrible about?  Stop waiting for your punishment and start looking for His grace.

He isn't waiting to tell you that He told you so.  He isn't waiting to make you feel like the lowest of the low.  He died for you so that you wouldn't have to feel that way.

He loves you.  And He misses you when you're gone.

And all this brings me back to one more distance...

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Distance east to west from you and your forgiven sin: "one scarred hand to the other."
(Casting Crowns, "East to West")

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  ~ 1 John 1:9