[305 words]
Oscar Wilde once put forth this thought-provoking observation: “No man is rich enough to buy back his past.” To a large degree, Wilde was right.
Even Paul, that matchless apostle of New Testament days, was haunted by acrid memories of a wasted and misdirected youth, a time when he had worked feverishly against the Lord and His church. In his younger, pre-conversion days, Paul, then known as Saul, had been a willing accomplice in an innocent man’s death. (Acts 7:58-8:1.) Paul’s words in passages such as 1 Corinthians 15:9 reflect the mind of one whose past had been fully forgiven by God but not at all forgotten by self.
We all desperately desire to leave the sins of the past behind us. Thankfully, God is more than willing to forgive. As We deal with our sins according to His divine will, our sins are forgiven and remembered of God no more. (Hebrews 8:12.) The slate is wiped clean. The past is just that—the past.
But God’s forgiveness will not erase all of sin’s consequences, nor all of our haunting memories. Seeds sown to the flesh will see their harvest, a harvest which often begins long before final Judgment, and may be reaped in various ways even after divine forgiveness has been granted.
Though Paul was forgiven, Stephen was still dead.
The best way of insuring our future is by so living now as to leave behind no past needing to be bought back. While we can never turn back the hands of time, reversing all the mistakes and consequences of the past, neither should we continue making the same mistakes over and over again.
And, like Paul, all of us must humbly admit, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” (1 Corinthians 15:10.)
Dalton Key
Church of Christ
Tulsa, OK