The Past is the Past . . .

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.(Colossians 3:1-11)

The past is the past. It's a different world once one becomes saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. The past has been wiped clean. We are indeed made new as Paul wrote.(2 Corinthians 5:17) While we may suffer from the consequences of sins here on earth, our future looks bright. Despite the gloom and doom of this world, heaven awaits the believer, the disciple of Christ. There is indeed a peace the believer posssesses that ordinary folks simply cannot comprehend. (Philippians 4:7) So why are we still tied up in the past, or even the present-day mess? Human nature binds us daily! We simply allow our finite minds not to see God's plans working out. Paul reminds us in the passages above of what we used to be and used to do. We must pray and allow the Holy Spirit to let us get a peak of the vision of who we really are in Christ. Through His help, we can put away our past and live to honor the Savior who redeemed us from sin's guilt and chains. There are no super-Christians: We are each special in God's eyes . . . His children. Day by day, moment by moment, we must choose to love like it! If you are lke me you will find it hard to convince yourself of this . . . only the Spirit within us can do it.

We all must agree: the past is the past . . . let's move on!