“Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.”

(Hebrews 9:14 New Living Translation)

 

Normally, the rear view mirror reflects those things that are behind us, which grow more and more distant and indistinct as we continue to move forward toward our destination. Even large objects that might take up the entire field of vision in that mirror soon diminish and ultimately fade from view as we continue on our journey. We can learn a lot from a good rear view mirror.

Some people, even Christians, have a hard time letting certain things fade into the background of their lives and disappear. A rear view mirror is uniquely positioned to keep the image of what is behind us still before our eyes, even while we are endeavoring to look forward to where we’re going. Likewise, a guilty conscience may cause one to keep past sins and mistakes in tow indefinitely, clouding the vision of tomorrow with the image of yesterday’s failure.

Some who refuse to pries their eyes away from that image of what’s behind them, can lose site of the road that’s before them altogether, allowing condemnation to reverse their direction, as they revisit the moment of their failure again and again. They may feel stuck, unable to put their life in “drive” again until they feel forgiven, choosing to let feelings and emotions of guilt control them, rather than faith in God’s Word, which tells us we are forgiven the moment we acknowledge our sin to God (see 1 John 1:9). The Bible is clear that we walk by faith and not by sight, and sometimes the only way to put distance between us and our past is to simply put our life in gear again. As we choose to move forward again by faith, the disparity between faith and feeling is bridged and the healing of our heart can begin.

Christ’s blood was shed to clear the reflection of yesterday’s wrongdoing that stains our wounded conscience. Only the blood of Christ has power to remove the dark mark of sin upon the soul, restore our heart, and make it whole. God does not want us trying to pay for our sins on the installment plan, regularly revisiting our failure and reliving the shame. No, Christ paid it all, and the only way to do honor to His sacrifice is to realize that it was made to release us from all shame, that the imprint of sin on our conscience may be completely removed.

So, put some distance between you and your yesterdays. The sooner you start moving forward again, the sooner the objects in your mirror will be replaced with a new view. Your feelings will soon catch up with your faith, the wounds of your conscience will heal, and your confidence in His purpose for your life will be restored.

After all, the same Peter who denied Christ on the eve of his crucifixion was the Peter who saw three thousand souls come to Christ on the day of Pentecost, less than two months later. The same Moses who killed the Egyptian was the very Moses who became the wonder-working deliver of God’s covenant people. The same David who failed morally was the King whom God called a man after His own heart. The vision of your past failures can truly be replaced by a bright expectation for tomorrow, and your best days can honestly be just down the road ahead.