This week’s devotionals are written by hospice chaplain April Knoke and can be found in the YouVersion reading plan, “Out of Death’s Shadow.”
Read 2 Corinthians 10:5, Romans 12:2, Proverbs 4:2
Old Bones
When we go through storms, it is easy to want to revert to our old thoughts and ways. It is easy to feel discouraged. I mean, we get battered and bruised fighting these battles, do we not? In those times we need to be careful not to dig up the things we buried and gave to God. Just like the seed that turned into a plant in the garden now begins to produce fruit, so does our life. When we have buried the old things of our lives, God begins to work and we produce beautiful new fruit. Using our spiritual weapons, like forgiveness, keeps us from digging up those old buried things.
We must remember God’s forgiveness does not work like ours. We say we forgive, but in the heat of an argument, we bring up the thing we said we forgave. God does not operate that way.
Look at this verse in Isaiah 43:25 (NASB):
“I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
God’s forgiveness is complete! He will not dig up your past. People will. Forgetting the past begins with forgiving the past. I’m not saying it’s ever forgotten—only God promises to do that—but I am saying when forgiveness is activated, the healing process begins, even if it means you having to forgive yourself. When those old thoughts try to pop up and remind us about the old, we can capture the thought and reject it just as scripture tells us to in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (AMPC):
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, 5 [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)…
Doing this will help us to remember less and less. As we do, our past will have less of a hold on us. It will be closer to remaining buried where it belongs, down deep in that spiritual grave. Remind yourself to leave it there; don’t dig up those old bones!!
