Candy Confident!
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 1 corinthians 5:17 (NLT)
Ellie loves to take the items out of the basket and put them on the conveyor belt. As we walk through the store she also enjoys taking things from the shelf and throwing them into the basket. Each shopping trip includes a lot of us saying. “No put that back. We are not paying for that”. She even helps us swipe the card at check out. She has quickly learned that you have to pay for what you take from the store and this means it has to go on the conveyor belt.
One day as we are checking out I notice the grocery clerk ring up two suckers and toss them in the bag. Jessie and I looked at each other confused then at Ellie who smiled her biggest smile. At some point she worked her magic and snuck the candy up on the conveyor belt. We never noticed her throw it in the basket much less put it on the conveyor belt. However, Ellie was confident that if she put the candy on the conveyor belt it would be paid for. This moment reminds of of a confidence we can have in Jesus. Let me go back a little further first.
One summer at kids camp I remember asking Jesus into my heart every night of that week. I was so scared that if I messed up, made a mistake, sinned and didn’t ask Jesus back into my heart that I would not get to go to heaven. I had this belief that you had to get saved every time you made a mistake. I wanted to go to heaven so badly. Truthfully I just wanted to stay out of hell. So, I knew my best bet was to run to the altar every night at Kids camp and invite or should I say beg Jesus into my heart. Of Course I now know that getting saved is not about a get out of hell free card it’s about a relationship with Jesus. However, as a child I had so much guilt of all the mistakes I made that I was terrified I was not good enough to know Jesus or be forgiven. I’m so thankful I now know that Jesus wants to know me. He wants to know you too. There are some things in our past that if we allow it to these things can really hinder us from truly know the love and forgiveness of Jesus. There are mistakes in your past that you are so ashamed of. You’ve made mistakes you regret and you haven’t completely forgiven yourself for. Many of us are not completely confident that Jesus has completely forgiven us of our sins. Stop living as if the sacrifice of Jesus was not good enough. Stop living with the guilt of every past mistake. I have good news! Jesus died to pay the price of our sins. It’s not complicated. When Jesus died on the cross He took our sins with Him. When you make Jesus the center of your life you no longer have to carry the weight of your sin. Your sin is covered. It is paid for in full.
“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.” Isaiah 43:25 (NLT)
Why should you continue to feel guilt over a past that Jesus chooses to forget?
Just as Ellie put her candy on the conveyor belt confident that it would be paid for, we can be confident that the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross is enough to cover our sin.
Shine4Him 