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Have you ever considered the rearview mirror of a vehicle?

The average rearview mirror measures 10 inches wide by 2.5 inches tall or roughly 25 square inches. The windshield, however, is usually 75 to 100 times larger. This means the rearview mirror is only 1%-2% of the total windshield area. It may be just a small part of the vehicle, but it is a requirement of law for every automobile to have one. It shows how close or how far away other objects are, and in general, it is there so you can get a glimpse of what is behind you. But you’re not supposed to keep your eyes on it while you’re moving forward.

This is much like our past and our future.

In accordance to God’s law, we all are sinners by birth and we all have a past and an eternal future. Have you ever struggled with the sins of your past and trying to forgive yourself? Does it seem like a never-ending battle or difficult task? The truth is, it’s more than difficult—it’s impossible! The Bible never instructs us to forgive ourselves or states that we even have the ability to do so. Only God can forgive our sins.

So, the real issue is not one of self-forgiveness, but rather a lack of faith. Specifically, it’s a lack of faith that God has forgiven you for those sins you have given to Him. You must trust that what He has promised, He will perform! What He promised was that the finished work He had done on Calvary’s Cross was sufficient for the sins of all mankind. “And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform” (Romans 4:21). Jesus was God in the flesh, the perfect, sinless, sacrifice given to pay our sin debt of death. Once the penalty is paid the debt is forgiven! Now through a heart of repentance and our faith in Him, we can have complete forgiveness and assurance that these sins will never be brought up against us by Him. This is true regardless of your past! You no longer have to keep looking back but can then look forward by faith and trust in Him. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1).

The past is not as important as the future, for one is temporary and the other is not.

Until a person gets saved, they should be very concerned about their past life of sin. But when a sinner gets saved their sins are no longer remembered or held against them, and their past is gone. When their sins are under the blood of Jesus, they’re all washed away. “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 8:12). It may be helpful to get a glimpse of where God has brought you from, but you cannot continually focus on your past while trying to move forward!

The devil does not want you to forget what God has chosen not to remember. So, when you do look back, you must remember that, in the eyes of God, the distance from your sin is as far as the east is from the west! “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalms 103:12).

However, if you’re still traveling down that roadway of sin, you must consider the eternal destination you are heading toward. God has provided a holy detour through Jesus Christ, and if you take it, it will be the best decision of your life.

It’s time to hit the spiritual brakes, turn your life toward God and move forward to a better destination!

“Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:6-7). Put your past under His blood and move on down the road for Him! “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

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