O God, you have declared me perfect in your eyes; you have always cared for me in my distress.
Psalm 4: 1 (LB)
Scripture: 1 Peter 2: 4-12
We confess our sins to God, but we continue to see ourselves as broken and bruised. We need to see ourselves as God sees us. This devotion looks at God declaring us as perfect and why we struggle with seeing ourselves as He sees us.
God has declared us perfect in His eyes. Wait a second, you say. Me – perfect? But God has made us perfect in His eyes. Doesn’t He say, “…though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…” (Isa. 1: 18 KJV)? The snow covers the sins.
Have you ever gotten up and found it had snowed during the night? The ground may be bumpy and rocky underneath, but all the imperfections are covered up by the snow. You couldn’t see them anymore.
Jesus’ blood did that for us. His blood covered all our sins and imperfections. He made all our sins His – and He made us God’s.
Luckily, blood doesn’t melt like snow. Our sins belong to Jesus now. He took them and nailed them to the cross.
So, what was left when Jesus took them? A perfect soul. God sees us as we were originally made.
You say, why did God choose to send His Son to be the great blotter-outer? And why in the world did Jesus allow it? “For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His own possession” (Ps. 135: 4 NASB). He chose us. God sent Jesus to the cross because He wanted to do it for us. We are that important to Him.
Hold it, you say. God picked me? Why? “But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself; the Lord will hear when I call unto Him” (Ps. 4: 3 KJV). By God choosing us and forgiving us of our sins, He has made us godly. He changed us so that we have the capacity to be like Him.
But then, if we have the capacity to be like Him, why do we always screw up so? Remember we have to deal with Satan. He sees the blanket of snow also, and all he can think of is snowball fights. He can’t wait to kick around and uncover the imperfections of the ground.
But in our case, we just think he uncovers the imperfections. Remember God takes all sins away and leaves us perfect.
Sometimes, though, we doubt that He really has taken our sins away. Or we think there is scar tissue left. Not so. “O God, you have declared me perfect in your eyes” (Ps. 4: 1 LB). That means there are no confessed sins hiding under the snow and no scar tissue. He has made us perfect in His sight.
So, when Satan wants to have snowball fights, remember to do what the Bible tells us to do: “I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken” (Ps. 16: 8 NASB). God is there to help us when Satan gets frisky. God will melt the snow, but not the blood.
Father, You are perfect. You can know no sin. Man is imperfect. Sinning is easy for us. Yet through the death of Your Son, You have made us perfect in Your eyes. With His blood, You have covered our sins and made us as perfect as new-fallen snow. Lord, help us when Satan tries to get us to sin. But we know if we keep You at our right hand, we will not be shaken. Only with Your help, Lord, can we withstand his temptations. “For with Thee is the foundation of life; In Thy light we see light” (Ps. 36: 9 NASB). Thank you, Lord. Amen.
What do you think? Why do we see the bumps and scar tissue instead of the blood-cleansed, pure snow? Leave me a comment below or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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