“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger,
abounding in love. He will not always
accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins
deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the
earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from
the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:8-12
In the song East to
West the chorus goes like this:
“Jesus, can you tell me how far the east is from the west … one scarred
hand to the other.” That’s really the
crux of it, isn’t it? Everything we
believe as Christians centers around the person of Jesus Christ. David, who has experienced the forgiveness of
God numerous times in his life, knows all too well of His compassion, grace and
abounding love. David was a man of God
who slipped up a time or two and paid for his sin dearly, but he also found
unrelenting love and forgiveness when it was sought.
Something we must understand today is that
while God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), we still have
to ask for His forgiveness. It isn’t arbitrarily given to any and all who
exist on earth. However, forgiveness is available
to anyone who seeks it. It’s very much
like the gift that is offered yet never received. It isn’t ours until we say, “may I have it” and then receive it. If that weren’t true then all we’d have to do
in simply believe in God’s existence and do nothing else, for the blanket of
His forgiveness would be cast over us all.
Forgiveness is supposed to cause a
radical, life altering change in us. We
are supposed to make a 180-degree turn away from our past life and surrender
our will over to the Lordship of Christ.
Only then can we begin to fully grasp the depth of love that removes our
sin so far from us and never remembers it against us again. Until next time, walk with the King and be a
blessing!
* East to West is a song by Christian band Casting Crowns, off their
3rd studio album titled The
Altar and the Door. The album was released on August 28, 2007 on Beach
Street Records and Reunion Records.
