Do-overs

I love do-overs.

If I don’t like what I’m writing, I hit the delete key and “do-over.”
If my hair is having a bad day, my brush winds its way through and creates a “do-over.”
If my chicken dish doesn’t turn out…well, that I just throw out.

Wouldn’t it be freeing if we could “do-over” (or throw out!) some of those moments from our past? Stupid decisions we made. Comments shared. Hot pants worn.

We can’t pretend those moments never happened.  Yet…God makes it possible for us to remove them from our slate and start fresh.

I don’t have to be embarrassed or shamed by those growing-up or out-of-faith decisions or choices. We are able to bring them to the foot of the cross and say, “Jesus, thank you for your forgiveness. Your mercy. For wiping my slate clean.”

Here’s how David describes it in Psalm 32 (MSG):
“Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be – you get a fresh start, your slate’s wiped clean.
Count yourself lucky – God holds nothing against you and you’re holding nothing back from him.
When I kept it all inside, my bones turned to powder, my words became daylong groans. The pressure never let up; all the juices of my life dried up.
Then I let it all out; I said, ‘I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to God.’
Suddenly the pressure was gone – my guilt dissolved, my sin disappeared.”

Simply amazing.

Here are two prayers for a do-over — (He hears you, you know!):
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  (Psalm 139:23-24)

“God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.”  (Psalm 51:10 MSG)

What do you want removed from your slate?

Ask God for His eraser…His mercy, forgiveness, grace, and unconditional love.

 Make a fresh start.