The Big Three

John 8:31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “if you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

You know what I’ve realized about myself? I’m a fretter and a stewer. Mostly about mistakes or bad decisions I’ve made or unfortunate circumstances that I find myself in. These are all feelings that have led me down a path I really don’t want to be on with thoughts that have never done me any good - fear, guilt, and regret. Yup, the Big Three. The three that can stop me in my tracks. Lock me in a prison of despair. Immobilize me. If there was ever a person who has been led down the path of misery too many times by these treacherous feelings, it would have to be me.

I have felt guilty about entirely too many things, dwelt entirely too much on my mistakes, shortcomings, screw-ups. And you know what I’ve found? That as good and pious as it might seem to grovel at the feet of God, begging forgiveness for my poor sinful condition, it isn’t really what He wants. In fact, I think carrying around a load of guilt is exactly the opposite of what He wants. I think He wants me to believe.

Believe what? Believe that His Son paid the full price for all of my sins, all of them. And holding on to guilt is kind of a slap in the face to Him when you think about it. It’s like I’m telling Him, ‘Yes, I know that Jesus loves me. Yes, I know that He died for my sins, but I think I need to add something to all of that by groveling on my knees to show just how sorry I am.’ And, while I think it’s vitally important that we are repentant, that we are sorry, I think once the mercy is asked for, God wants us to stand up and keep moving in the right direction.

Proverbs 24:16 [F]or though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again.

You see, I think the Big Three are feelings God never meant for us to carry around. Think about it. If you had a child who had broken your favorite vase or golf clubs or whatever, a child who was truly sorry and admitted that they’d done wrong, you’d punish them. But afterward, after all was said and done, would you want your child to carry around a load of guilt for the rest of their childhood? Of course not. 

So the big question is, why do we? If Jesus came to do what He truly wanted to do – set us free, why would we remain behind bars of guilt when the door to the cell has already been cracked wide open? You see, Jesus did come to set us free. Set us free to run in the path of His commands. So let’s try something shall we? A New Year’s Resolution that might just revolutionize our relationship with God. Believe the truth – the truth that God has removed our sins and our guilt -  as far away from us as the east is from the west. I don’t know about you, but this is one New Year’s resolution that I’m looking forward to keeping – maybe even for a lifetime.