Daily Devotional

A Ministry of the Kerwin Baptist Church

February 20, 2018

by Pastor Hawtree

I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE:

TO BE READY TO FORGIVE

Psalm 86:5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.

I hate to admit this, but when I am hurt by someone, I eventually get to the point that I forgive that person and desire to move on. My temperament cannot take tension with someone very long. But I cannot say that I am always “ready” to forgive immediately. I might need to calm down, think things through, or let my anger subside. This verse says that God is always “ready” to forgive. That means that it is God’s first reaction. It is natural for Him. It means that God is forgiving and as it says in the first part of the verse, He is good. In fact, God is so good, that immediately after we sin, He is ready to forgive and forget. Amazing!

I have found in my life, that my problem is not that God will not forgive me, but that I will not forgive myself. We sometimes can beat ourselves up, dwell on our own failures, and continue to let the past ruin the future. In fact, let me put it this way. Maybe you are not “ready” to forgive yourself for some failures. Maybe you are not done making yourself feel bad for it. Maybe, without realizing it, you are trying to make yourself do some kind of penance for it. Maybe if you hold onto the guilt, eventually you will feel you finally deserve some relief from it. Maybe if you dwell on these failures, you will not have to move on in your life where you might possibly commit further failures. Maybe if you dwell on this mistake, you won’t commit further faults. Bless our hearts. We can be very complicated and confused.

The problem with this is that IS ready to move on. God is ready to forgive. God does want you to move on to other things. God has great plans for you. God has great opportunities that He has foreordained to intersect with your path. God has some victories that He wants you to experience in your Christian walk. God has some huge blessings that He cannot wait to bless your life and family with. God has sweet and precious promises that He wants to remind you of in your daily quiet time with Him. God is excited about the future. He is ready to move forward. The only thing that could ruin all this is your sin, but God was instantly ready to forgive you for it the moment that you repented. But sadly, you are not “ready”.

May I lovingly urge you today to realize that God is good although our flesh is bad. God is ready to forgive although you are not ready to forgive yourself. Although you have made many mistakes, God has plenty of mercy. All you have to to is call upon God. Draw nigh to Him and He will draw nigh to you. God is ready to forgive.