Ash Wednesday - God Does Not Remember Sins

For the season of Lent I'll be sharing devotions from Grace Lutheran's devotional book: "Forgiven." 

While these devotions are not my words and may not represent my own faith or theological understanding, they are valuable personal faith perspectives of 40 of Grace's members and I am so grateful for their generosity in sharing them.

Part One: Forgiveness & Wholeness

Jeremiah 31:31-34 - God does not remember sins 

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

In these verses, the prophet Jeremiah speaks to a people in exile, a people God called to have a special relationship with him, and a people who broke that relationship time after time. God guided his people through signs, miracles, laws written on stone and on papyrus, and through his servants such as Moses and David. But being human, his people strayed again and again. The lesson Jeremiah provides is that despite this, God forgives and seeks a variety of ways to renew and revitalize the special relationship he has with his people. He will always forgive, no matter how far we've strayed, and in the end, he will forgo earthly tools such as tablets and connect directly with his people's hearts. 

 As Lutherans, we have a special connection with this message of having a direct, personal connection with God, and receiving grace through faith, with nothing asked in return. This is central to our beliefs. This is all God’s doing, and through Jesus Christ we are called into a relationship with him and each other. 

Prayer: 
Lord, thank you for the grace you give, asking only for our faith in your promise to gather us together as your people and bless us, so we can be a blessing to others. Thank you also for forgiving us no matter how many times we've strayed, and for finding a variety of ways to bring us back to you, renewing and revitalizing the special relationship we have with you. 
~ Jack

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