Scripture for Today:  II Peter 1:9  “For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.”

I still remember Denise, a friend from my university days.  She  was blind and I was her reader.  Although some books were available in braille, most were not and she needed people to read her textbooks to her.  I remember Denise as being a very positive “can do” person with a love of music boxes.  She had quite a collection.  She was absolutely in love with her fiance, a very sweet attentive man who was also a student there.  I learned first hand some of the obstacles she had to surmount, but she was so often full of joy for God’s goodness!

Our verse for today talks about a blindness that plagues many Christians.  God promises to supply to every believer all that is needed to live a godly life, through knowing Him.  These qualities are listed as diligence, virtue, knowledge, self-control, patience and piety, kindness and Christian love.  However, any Christian can experience a lack of these qualities when he or she forgets something; that their former sins have been cleansed.  Guilty memories can be blinding.

Satan, our accuser, would like nothing better than to see Christians stumbling around with canes.  Remembering the times I fell keeps me from moving forward and pressing on.  My past failures do not have the power to immobilize me when I remember God’s complete cleansing.  I want to continually remember what He did for me on that cross.  I do not want guilty memories to keep me from realizing His liberating forgiveness!  These qualities are His gift to me.  He made living a godly life possible.

Help me, Lord, to forget the failures and remember Your incredible forgiveness!