Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. 3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"--and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

Of all the problems we face today, there is none greater than sin. Before sin entered this world, mankind was in a personal and blissful relationship with God. We read in Genesis how God would come in the cool of the day and walk and talk with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Since they were made in the image of God, the vast difference we now see between mankind and God did not exist at that time. God is totally without any evil thoughts or actions. Everything God is and does is absolutely pure and right. He is perfect in all his ways. This describes not only God but also Adam and Eve before they sinned. We are not capable of really grasping the awesomeness of being sinless and the ensuing harmony with God as the result. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in defiance of God’s command, all of this changed. Sin (failure to live up to the perfection of God) had arrived. Because of sin, Adam and Eve were separated from God and that blissful relationship was destroyed. Since we all have sinned, our relationship with him has been destroyed also.

Just as terrible as sin is to us all, so forgiveness is beautiful. God in his great love has shown his mercy thru his marvelous grace by giving his Son to die for our sin so that we might live in that blissful relationship, in eternity. Just as Jesus died for sin, we must die to sin. Just as he was buried and then raised from the grave, so we must be buried in baptism and then raised to walk a new life – free from sin. (Explained in Eph. 1-2, Rom. 6) While the concept of a perfect God loving us enough to offer his Son in our place as punishment for our sin is beyond our ability to comprehend, we can place our confidence in him and know our sins are forgiven. Regardless of how much or in what manner we have sinned, we can go to bed at night knowing that in God’s sight we are free from sin with our relationship restored to him.

O God, great and mighty, holy and awesome, I thank you for your love for me. I know that in no sense do I deserve any kindness or mercy from you and yet I know that you do love me and have provided forgiveness thru your Son, Jesus Christ. It is in his name I pray and ask for wisdom to live for you.

May God bless each of us as we submit to his will and live for him.