“Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits …Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption” Psalm 103:4a
Nothing you can do can make God love you more, and nothing you can do can make Him love you less.
Our flesh and our intellect recoils at that statement – we cannot comprehend that truth because that’s not what we see or practice in our own experience. Maybe you’ve lost a relationship or a job through poor decisions, perhaps you’ve rejected others because of their words or behaviour. Maybe you’re so full of shame for your past actions you feel that you’ll have to spend the rest of your life atoning and paying the price – keeping your head down until you scrape into heaven.
Graham Cooke, a well-known Christian teacher has said, “God is not disillusioned with you, He never had any illusions about you in the first place!”
This Psalm foreshadows the work of Christ who took all our sin to the cross. No matter what you’ve done until now, when you come to Him and hand over your life – He takes it all. That’s grace. We’re able to stand tall, lifted out of shame and despair and move forward into the next phase of our lives confident in the knowledge that our sins are no more.
If you woke up this morning feeling there was no escape from your current mess, know this, no matter the reason for your present circumstances God is reaching out His hand of love and acceptance to draw you in and set you free to start again – no shame, no guilt, no condemnation.