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“If God forgives and cleanses our sins, does He ever put them back?” Or do they remain far away?

Aiden’s question initially startled Mark, but as a Sunday school teacher of young boys, he knew his students were bright and inquisitive–Aiden in particular. Yet how could he answer?  

The class discussion had been about how God forgives and cleanses our sins, but Aiden’s question meant Mark had to take a different approach. So, after a brief pause to think, he had the children read Psalm 103:12 and then gather around a world globe in the corner of the classroom.

“Now, Aiden, hold your finger right there on the United States.” When the boy had done that, Mark continued, “Now keep your finger right there on the United States, and we’ll slowly turn the globe to the right. Note that we’re going east. Keep turning. Stop! Where’s your finger?”

Aiden studied the globe. “Hey! I’m back in the United States. But how’s that? I was going east, and now I’m back where I started. I went around the world, but it’s as if East and West never meet!”

“That’s what the psalmist was saying,” Mark said. “God removes our sins as far as the east is from the west. And since the east and west never meet, then that means our sins are gone. Even God can’t find them and put them back.”

Unfortunately, some of us share Aiden’s concern. But, if we do, it can encumber our spiritual lives. After all, how can we serve God when we’re busy worrying about reoccurring faults?

Yet, as Mark’s demonstration showed, what God has forgiven, He has removed far away and forgotten. Our sins are gone for eternity.

Have you grasped what God has done with your sins?   

(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)