All shook up

One of my favorite toys as a child was the Etch-A-Sketch.  In that red piece of plastic and graphite held all possibilities and a fun way to start over - just give it a shake.  We live in an Etch-A-Sketch culture.  We think that if we make a mistake that all we have to do is shake it and start over - no one is hurt.  But the reality is that we still have to deal with the mistakes of our past and no matter how hard we shake it - the problems don’t just go away.  We have to do the hard work of repenting, reconciling and restoring relationships.

But with God our relationship with Him IS like an Etch-A-Sketch.  When we we sin and go so far away from Him, He takes us in His arms and shakes our lives and He remembers our sin no more.  Our lives become clean and fresh again - all because of what Jesus did for you on the cross.  We don’t just get to pick up from where we left off, but instead, we start new, with a new heart and a new spirit.

And that gives us the strength to go back into our lives, the same ones that we have made a mess of and to ask for that forgiveness from a friend or neighbor.  It empowers us to return that same forgiveness when they come seeking it from you - not just seven times, but seventy times seven.

Shaken By God