Be Blessed

Psalm 32:1-2
Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

I can't count the number of times I have read these verses, thought briefly about them, and then quickly moved on to the next verse in this Psalm. Today, however, God moved in me and I spent a little more time thinking about them. At first glance I want to say, "Yes, I'm blessed because God has covered every bad choice I've made," thinking in past-tense. Yet today it occurred to me that every sin and transgression I ever have or will commit has been covered.

Of course we talk about that quite often - Jesus has forgiven ALL our sins, past, present, and future, but this was just another stark reminder of that reality. I think you may already know this, but I tend to dwell, unhealthily I might add, on all the things I do wrong and all the ways I fall short. What a blessing to be "told" that even in the midst of the sin, God does not count it against me!

Now, I am not saying we will not have consequences for our bad choices, or that we won't have to live with the results, but I am saying that God doesn't treat us as the sinners we are, but rather as the righteous children He is making us to be. Woo-hoo!! Hallelujah!!

I think my favorite part of this passage, though, is our being blessed when we have no deceit in our spirit. "I'm not a liar!" I want to scream. However, in context I think this is talking about something altogether different. I think David is reminding us that while God will not count our sins or transgressions against us, we also shouldn't just merrily skip through life, ignoring them in our lives completely. No, we still must acknowledge the sin in our lives, the bad choices. We must go before God and say "I screwed up . . . again." And then repent - turn from them and walk the other way. Ignorance is NOT bliss (as a matter of fact, ignorance of the law has never been an excuse, even in the Old Testament.)

So, if you have been wallowing in your sin, get up, brush yourself off, and count yourself blessed, because God does not count it against you! If, however, you have been ignoring some sin (whether big or little), perhaps calling it something it isn't, or somehow justifying it, you need to get on your knees, and come clean at the foot of the cross. Yes, there may be some consequences, and they will probably be painful, but God still counts you righteous, and the burden of guilt will be lifted from your shoulders.

May you be blessed, today!