“Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!”
– Psalm 25:6-7
The psalmist’s prayer, and the deepest need of our own souls, is fulfilled through what we contemplate and celebrate this particular week. There is no greater evidence of God’s enduring steadfast love and mercy than what Jesus did for all of us on the cross. God demonstrated love beyond anything we could possibly imagine by sending His Son into the world to rescue us from our sins. When the sinless Son of God gave Himself over to a horrifying death on a cross, it was precisely so God’s love, mercy, and grace could be lavished upon His people. Including you!
It’s only through the work of Christ on the cross, His sacrificial death, burial, and physical resurrection, that our sins are forgiven as a gift of God’s grace given through faith in Jesus. Because Jesus died and rose, God will not remember your sins once you have confessed them to Him and asked forgiveness. He doesn’t think about them. He doesn’t talk about them. He doesn’t remind you of them. Because Jesus died and rose, God only thinks about you with steadfast, loyal, faithful love you honestly don’t deserve. Because God is love. God is gracious. God is merciful. That’s His nature. And because at the cross, Jesus satisfied the perfect justice, righteousness, holiness, and wrath of God.
Take time to meditate on God’s mercy proven by the cross. Give thanks for His forgiveness given through the cross. Delight in His love poured out at the cross. And remember the terrible price Jesus paid to answer this prayer! Believe, remember, and #FollowJesus