A clean slate

Sometimes we need to wipe the slate clean.

Forget everything that's gone wrong.

Drop the expectation levels down to zero.

Reach for a clean, crisp empty page...

Start fresh.


It sounds impossible, doesn't it?  What does fresh look like?  What would starting a new day with a clean slate actually look like?

I'm not sure I actually know.  My mind and heart are usually so bogged down by the ticker tape of the lies the enemy feeds me from the moment I open my eyes in the morning.  I spend more time replaying regrets than envisioning possibility.

On occasion I try to fathom what God must see when he looks at me.

I see myself wrapped in filth-encrusted robes.
He sees the righteousness of Jesus. 

It's a mystery I can't even begin to fathom.

The deepest, darkest place of our hearts whisper, "You're unworthy. No good. Hopeless."

Jesus replies, "I am worthy.  I accomplished everything perfectly. Hope in Me."

Think about it.

When God looks at those of us who are washed clean in the blood of His Son and transformed by His amazing grace, He's not looking back. He's not drawing together some cumulative measure of judgment based on all the sins we've ever sinned.  We were guilty from the start.  We couldn't make the rating on the 'sin meter' worse and we can't make it better.

And yet...

We are forgiven.
We are washed.
The slate is clean.

Every time we kneel down in prayer and lay our daily repentance as a fragrant offering before Him, the slate is swept clean by the broad stroke of the hand on which our names are engraved.

Not because we are worthy.
Not because of anything we have done.

But because He is our Father and He loved us far too much to let us live in separation from Him.

A clean slate... what do you do with that?

We stop looking back.
It's so easy and natural for us who are so deeply aware of our unworthiness to want to keep our past regrets and sorrows close to our hearts.  Perhaps we use the excuse that we are looking to learn from past mistakes, but is that true?  Are we not actually seeking to mete out some form of judgment that feels far more brutally appropriate than the overwhelming free gift of grace?

Why cling to guilt and regret when He has already forgiven? Are our standards higher than His?

We stop minimizing sin.
How often does our assurance of salvation translate into a casual attitude towards sin?  The thought that it's not a big deal hums quietly in the background of our lives at times; it's a dangerous sound track to live our lives to.

When I minimize the seriousness of sin in my life, I stand at the foot of the cross, look up at my suffering Saviour and say, 'It's not a big deal.'

We live from a gratitude driven by grace and directed to our Lord.
Grace is powerful.  Grace is the agent that lifts us from the slimy pit and sets us in a right relationship with the Lord of heaven and earth.  And yet, so few times does the gratitude in my life reflect the awesome power of this awesome gift of grace.

The grace of God is what renews us when we've clung to regrets and failed to live a life of gratitude and praise. 

Grace drives us to the foot of the cross when we've botched it again, and sets us back on the path the Lord has chosen for us.

This is Christmas:
A King in a manger.
The promise of the cross, the tomb and the risen Lord.
The grace of God overflowing in our lives as the single most awesome gift we could ever be given.

A clean slate.

"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" ~ 2 Corinthians 9:15