Wouldn't it be great to have the god that you believe in forgive you and forget all the wrong things that you have ever committed in your live?
Well, let me remind you that our Creator and Loving God who is also our Father in Heaven does forgive and He forgets what we have done wrong in our lives when we become His children in Jesus Christ.

The Book of Psalms 103: 11-12

11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Isn't it exciting to know that the east never meets the west; therefore we can rest assured that He will never remember our sins. Well, how do you know? you may ask. What proof do you have?

In the Book of Genesis, we have a few chapters relating the life of Abraham and all the mistakes he made. Twice he passed his wife Sarah off as his sister to protect his own skin and God had to rebuke him. Interestingly enough, in the Book of Hebrews 11 which records all the things which the great men of Israel had done, I could not find any verse which spoke of those two events - it seems that God had forgotten all about those events. What God remembered about Abraham were his great faith and the great sacrifice, which he was willing to make - even the sacrifice of Isaac his son.

In 1 Kings 6: 1 we read: "And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord"

Here we read that it was 480 years after the Israelites came out of Egypt that King Solomon started to build the Temple of Solomon, the greatest temple ever constructed, in Jerusalem. However, historians dispute this dating and said that it was precisely 573 years after Egypt that the Temple construction started (you can take the books of the Old Testament and added up all the years of each leader) and there is a difference of 93 years. Now how can this be? Is there a mistake in the Bible?

Let's do some mathematics and find out whether we can solve this mystery. Lets read through the Old Testament and try and add up all those "wasted" years.

Judges 3: 7 - 08 years
Judges 3: 14 - 18 years
Judges 4: 3 - 20 years
Judges 6: 1 - 07 years
Judges 13:1 - 40 years
Total 93 years hey presto! There is no discrepancy.

What are those "wasted years"? If you read all those bible references, you will find that during those years the children of Israel were worshipping other gods /idols. Time and again they seem to have forgotten the worship of the God of Israel Who brought them out of Egypt until the Lord raised up a new leader who pointed them back to the God of their forebears.

God seems to have completely forgotten those 93 wasted years. His memory bank seemed to have that 93-year segment erased and He made no mention of them whenever He talks about the nation of Israel. You see, when God looks back at human history, He forgets our failures but only remembers all those moments when we are walking right with Him. Imagine our life history flashing before us when we get to Heaven and don't be surprised that it might be a very very short "show" as everything has been erased except that precious moment when we received Jesus into our hearts.

You may ask how this could be? The answer is very simple really; you see, the moment we receive Jesus into our hearts, God removes all our sins from our life-history and we put on Jesus' garments of righteousness so that each time when God looks at us, He sees, not us but Jesus Christ. By Jesus ' one death on the cross, He is able to satisfy God's Righteousness and Justice. The price has been paid and none other than the Son of God pays it Himself. Praise the Lord for His mercy, which endures forever.

And one more encouragement - do you know that God's anger lasts but for a moment but His loving kindness and mercy lasts forever? Hallelujah.

What a privilege we have in Jesus and to be children of the Heavenly Father. What love He has for us. Try Him; try Jesus. I am sure He is more than sufficient for your life.

Remember, if our Heavenly Father has already forgiven you of the wrongs in your life and has forgotten them, then why allow the devil to keep bringing these up and keep bothering us with the memory of them?

Best regards,
Andrew L W Lee

Dated : 20 August 2001