Imagine standing on the top deck of a cruise ship out in the middle of the ocean. It is night, but the moon is bright so that you can see the water. As you look around the horizon, you can see nothing but water in every direction.
You reach into your pocket and pull out a marble and toss it over the side of the ship into the ocean. Ker-plunk. It hits the water and disappears into its depths as the cruise ship moves right along.
Now imagine the next morning, you get up and want to go back to the place where you tossed the marble into the water and retrieve it. Can it be done? Not a chance. It would be absolutely impossible. The ship has moved on. The marble lies somewhere far behind you, on the floor of the ocean. There is no chance it will ever be brought up again.
Think of that marble as your sin. Two thousand years ago, your sins were placed upon Christ. In the dark night of Golgotha, God cast them into the sea of forgetfulness. They were swallowed up by an ocean of grace. They are gone and nothing can ever bring them up again.
“Oh, but my sins were so great,” you might protest. Okay, forget dropping a marble in the ocean. Fill your pockets full of marbles if you want. More marbles change nothing. Drag a fifty-five gallon drum full of marbles onto the deck of that ship and throw it overboard. Even that won’t make any difference.
Your sins can never overwhelm the Father’s expansive ocean of grace. You have sinned? Okay, welcome to humanity. Now, it’s time to get past your sins. Stop trying to bring up something that Christ has thrown away. (He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. See Hebrews 9:26)
Don’t dwell on your sins – neither those of twenty years ago nor not those of yesterday. That ship has sailed. You are forgiven. Relax. Settle in on The Good Ship Grace and enjoy the journey. The captain of your salvation has a wonderful itinerary planned for you as you go. And you won’t believe how wonderful your final destination will be!
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