In Japan, people often have parties called bonenkai. Literally translated, it means “Forget the year parties.” After all this time, I’m still not sure what that means. I’ve asked my English students:
“Was your year so bad that you have to forget it?”
“No.”
“So what are you trying to forget?”
(Shrug)
Anyway, for Christians, we have had our past rolled away by Christ. When God brought the Israelites into the promised land, he said,
Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. (Joshua 5:9)
In other words, “You suffered much shame and disgrace in the past. You were made to serve as slaves for years in Egypt.
“But now all of that is behind you. I have rolled away your past, and it is no more. Now look to the future that I have for you.”
He says the same thing to us.
“You were slaves to sin and the kingdom of Satan for so many years. You did things that brought you shame and disgrace. But no more.
“I have rolled your past away from you and that is behind you now. Now look forward to the future I have in store for you.”
In Isaiah 43:25, God says,
I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
And in I Corinthians 2:9, Paul writes
“No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him”
Are the burdens of your past weighing you down? Are you feeling the weight of guilt and shame in your life because of things you’ve done?
God has rolled your past away. He no longer remembers your transgressions. And he has wondrous things in store for you that you can’t imagine.
So let’s turn our face from the past, and look towards the future God has for us.
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 