“As far as the east is from the west, so far
has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12)
How far is “the east” from “the
west?”
Well, pretty far. We all know that if you start walking due
east and keep going, eventually you come full circle to your point of origin,
because the earth is a globe. The
psalmist did not know this, though. It’s
not that he was not as smart as we are; he just did not have as much
information as we have today. He had
never heard of “earth science.” In his
understanding, you could walk east and never find the end. To him “the east” was infinite, and so was
the west. He did not think circular but
linear. So in his view, if you walk east
and keep going, you just keep going infinitely.
The psalmist helps us see that with
God forgiveness is total and absolute.
When God forgives, it never comes back.
This is true because, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His faithful love toward those who fear Him.” (v11)
May we be reminded today that our
heavenly Father is compassionate toward us as His children, that He know we are
“dust,” and that when He forgives us it is total. His forgiveness is linear, not circular.
The proper response to this is
gratitude and praise. And there is one
more response that is equally appropriate:
just as He forgives us, we must forgive one another, compelled by
love. Forgive linear, not circular.
Lord, Help us today to practice linear
forgiveness and unending compassion toward others because of the example we see
in You. Amen.
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