If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, LORD, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence (fear), serve You. Psalm 130:3-4
Without the mercy, compassion and grace of God Who knows everything about me, my secret thoughts and selfish motives and every sinful behavior, I would be thoroughly dressed down, naked and exposed and condemned as a rebellious, self-centered, small-minded, hard-hearted, manipulative failure whose life is more defined by lack than abundance. This is what haunts me at night when the accuser invades my dreams. On my own merits, I am not enough and I stand condemned by my sin.
But God sees it all, knows it all—nothing in me or about me is hidden from Him—yet He loves me! He wants me with Him—that’s why He’s paid the penalty for my sin to pardon me, to stamp across the just charges against me, “Paid in Full.”
So I am set free, not only from a looming day of reckoning, but from all the accusations of the enemy and myself. It’s all because of the mercy of the God Who takes all my sin into account and forgives it completely. I owe Him more than gratitude, I owe Him my whole life, serving Him in love and in awe of Who He is, what all He has done and is doing for me. In awe that He is both fully holy and fully compassionate and merciful all at once and all the time. That kinds of jaw dropping awe of God is what the Bible calls, “the fear of God.” Healthy fear will always draw us into God’s presence instead of driving us away.
That healthy fear of God flourishes in forgiveness because my attention is now freed up to be fully centered on Him Who is utterly amazing, and it’s no longer interested in focusing on myself or others. I no longer have to try to manage my damage, or hide my failures, or try to present one thing while living something else, always looking over my shoulder to see if anyone has discovered me, the false me. Being forgiven frees me to serve God and make His approval my reward.
Thank You, Lord for seeing all that is wrong in me, knowing all that I have ever done or failed to do, and loving me anyway! Thank You for pardoning me from all charges that stood against me by nailing them to the cross where You gave Your life in exchange for mine. You have taken the burden of my failures off my back, you have washed away my sin and embraced me as Your child. I choose to make You and Your pleasure my focus as I serve You with my whole heart and whole life in healthy fear and love.