Week #10 Psalm 25:7 "God Loves Me...Yes, Me"

"Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to Your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of Your goodness, O LORD!"

In writing this blog, I use a website that gives you a scripture a day. This is the "system" I use to choose the scripture that I will blog about for the week. I usually choose one of the scriptures featured during the weekend.

So, when this particular verse popped up as my scripture of the week, I was actually glad. Even before meditating on the verse (which I usually do), there were so many reasons I loved this verse.

The first reason is rather obvious. When the psalmist asks the LORD not to remember "the sins of [his] youth," it struck a familiar chord with me. You see, there are so many joyful experiences in becoming a Christian, but one of the "down" sides for a believer is that you also become painfully aware of the sin in yourself.

No, this isn't a statement of self-flagellation or poor self-esteem. It is a fact: we all fall short of the glory of God. We are morally-imperfect beings who don't always "try our best" or even admit our imperfections.

But, my sin, my mistakes, my weaknesses and all those times in my life where I really blew it, are there. And, most of them will still be present in me, at least this side of heaven.

And, if the story ended there, life would be nothing but despair and hopelessness. Fortunately, the story, and this wonderful bible verse doesn't.

Look at the second part of the verse: "...according to Your steadfast love remember me..." (italics mine). Yes, the psalmist pleads with God to remember him, but not his sin.

And, if we let scripture interpret scripture, the counsel of God tells us that He does exactly that. God remembers us, not our sin. We are not defined by our sin. We are defined by His love for us. His Father-ship. Our son (or daughter)-ship. His righteousness that has been reckoned to us.

What do names like John Wilkes Booth, Al Capone or Benedict Arnold have in common? They are men who have been remembered for crimes they committed. Never mind that these men may have been sons, brothers, fathers or friends to someone. That part of history is not recorded or read too often.

Thank God that my personal history written in the Book of Life will not highlight my sins or the poor choices I have made in my life. It will record the fact that Jesus died on the cross, that my sins were nailed to that cross with Him, and that I am included as one of the children of God. Period.

Maybe when God thinks of me, He thinks of Aya the mom, Aya the actress, Aya the wife, Aya the one who loves corn on the cob every summer and drinks soy milk lattes. Maybe He smiles when He remembers that I love to snuggle with my cat Penny and I call my border collie "Poopie Dog."

Maybe.

I just know that He doesn't see the sin, the monumental mistakes and acts of rebellion I've been guilty of. He sees me, only me.

And He loves me. Thank you, LORD. That's the best news yet.