Leave It Buried!

“…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

When I was a boy my brother John and I had a Anglo-Nubian baby billy goat that we loved immensely. He was playful, ornery, and unpredictable. He was all white with little horns protruding from his head. Unfortunately, one winter we had a terrible blizzard with snow so deep that we couldn’t retrieve him to bring him into the house. The Arkansas temperatures dropped so quickly that when we went to check on him in the morning, we found him in the barn, frozen to death. We were heartbroken to say the least!

So, being pastors kids, we had a funeral, sang, prayed, cried and then buried him. Our parents bought us another one, who was just as cute and mischievous; (whom we eventually learned to love as well), but we missed “Deborah!” We wanted Deborah back! (Ya, I know a male goat with a female name…we we’re kids…give us a break!)
After a couple of months of grieving, John had what we both thought was a brilliant idea; we were going to dig it back up so we could see it just one more time. To say the least that was one of the worst decisions of our young lives. We were so distraught afterwards that we cried for days. In fact we couldn’t even bury it again; my dad had to do it for us! we were overcome with grief! The trauma of digging up something that should have stayed buried was far worse than the initial burial and goodbye.
That’s the way it is with the past. You see, we’ve all made mistakes…we’ve done things we’re not proud of…things that have caused us deep emotional pain. And, we’ve all endured the sting of betrayal, felt the agony of hurt, scorn and hardship inflicted by others.
The truth is, we all have a past…but we also all have a future.

Because of the blood of Jesus, it doesn’t really matter what happened or why it happened. We are promised not just forgiveness from OUR failures, but also redemption and restoration from the effects of the failures of others who have left a dubious mark in our lives. We have been granted grace to be forgiven and to forgive!

But, how often do we, just like my brother and I as kids, dig it back up? How often do we allow guilt and shame to cause us to relive events or situations that are far better left buried beneath the blood? How often are we our own worst enemy…beating ourselves up over things that cannot be changed, and allowing the trauma of it to taint our approach to the future?

Digging things up that should be left buried is not a good idea…we have to leave it buried…buried in the sea of God’s forgetfulness…never to be dug back up again!

We can’t change the past but we can determine the future…leave it buried!

Remember…No amount of guilt can undue past and no amount of anxiety can change the future! The blood has erased it; God can’t remember it; you must stop bringing it back up.