One of the unseen blessings of memorizing Scripture is that doing this opens the door to our souls. Solomon showed this when he said that a man is what he thinks in his heart (Prov. 23:7). What is perhaps even more remarkable is that what we memorized when we were children is so much a part of what we are today. We all know about what happened to Jack and Jill, Little Miss Muffet and the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. We owe a tremendous debt to those who helped us learn spiritual truths when we were so much younger.
I am not sure what teacher required that I memorize the opening stanza of a poem which I can so easily recall now six decades after I learned it. It was written by Lolita Hiroshi (I did not memorize her name, but found it on Google), but the moral truth found in it still impacts my life.
I wish that there were some wonderful place
Called the Land of Beginning Again,
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches
Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door,
And never be on again.
The reality is that such a place does exist. That land of beginning again is found in Christ. His grace is so amazing that He allows us to bury all the mistakes of the past and then to begin again. Paul said, “If anyone in Christ he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). That old man is crucified and buried in baptism, and we are raised to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-6). Mistakes of the past are gone and laid aside like an old garment, and we clothe ourselves in Christ-like apparel.
This truth is vividly described in Paul’s description of those in Corinth. Before becoming Christians, they were fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, sodomites, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers and extortioners. There was no way, living that way, they could inherit the kingdom of God. But, Paul described what happened when they became Christians. “But you were washed…sanctified…justified (1 Cor. 6:9-11). They entered the “Land of Beginning Again.”
That same beginning is still available for those who have become Christians and made foolish mistakes. John says that the blood of Jesus cleanses us also (1 John 1:7). The Lord continues to see us a without spot, wrinkle and without a single blemish (Eph. 5:27). With humble hearts we can live each day in the “Land of Beginning Again.”
So, as this new year begins, let’s take time to have an honest look at changes we can make. With His help every wrong can be made right. Memorize His words about the “land” in which we live. Write them on your soul, today!