Sometimes we think we’ve gone too far.

That the deeds we have done are too great.

That there is no way God can forgive us.

After all, look at the terrible thing we’ve done. Look at the secret shame we bear. Look at the guilt we carry.  Look at the hurt that we’ve caused others.

There’s no way God can forgive. We’ve gone too far.

Or, maybe it’s not that. It’s not the we’ve done some “awful” sin.

It’s that we keep doing the same thing, over and over again.

Everyday, we wake up, intending to do better. To live right. To live for God.

This will be the day!

And before we even leave the house, we’ve blown it. We’ll never get it right. We’ll never get it straight. It will never happen.

Listen to the words of Isaiah this morning:

18 “Come now, let’s settle this,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson,
I will make them as white as wool.

God is a God that longs to forgive you. That longs to give you grace and mercy and hope.

That longs to have you start fresh today.

That’s God’s plan for you. That’s God’s will for you. That’s what God wants.  God wants to forgive you.

And God wants you to know that you are forgiven.

Sometimes, the hardest person to forgive is yourself.

Today, through the power of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.

Go out and live.  You are forgiven. Go and live in that assurance.