Etch-A-Sketch Mind

Our minds are incredible storage facilities. I used to fall asleep by imagining walking to a room full of filing cabinets, taking out a file and stepping into whatever scene was in the file. (A little "Inception-esque" before Inception was even heard of.)

Truthfully I wish my mind was like an Etch-A-Sketch sometimes. When you see a troubling image, just shake it out of your memory and start fresh. When you make a mistake, just wig out a little and it's gone. I really wish this was possible when it comes to sin.

1 John 1 shares the familiar verse about Christ being willing to forgive us and cleanse us of all our sins and unrighteousnesses if we only confess. The problem I always have is the memory of the sin. I know God promises to make my sins white like snow, but for some reason they linger in my memory like the smell of my wife's perfume. And just like her perfume, places, smells, words, images or people trigger the memories of my failures. Really it can be quite unnerving.

I believe God allows the memory of sin for a time so we learn from our pasts. He does not intend for us to continue to dig up the rotting carcass of our sins and ask perpetual forgiveness for something He's already forgotten. We are supposed to take Him at His word that our sins are cast to the deepest part of the ocean.

I may not have a room full of filing cabinets in my head or an Etch-A-Sketch for a memory, but I believe in my God's power and passion to forgive. Today I will live in the peace of His forgiveness.