Box it Up Like an Old Photograph

A couple of days ago I was looking through some boxes in the attic, searching for photos of me as a baby. I wanted to see if Allison looks like I did as a baby. It turns out, she doesn't really look like me but that's okay, she is gorgeous!

As I was driving in the car yesterday afternoon, I heard an old song on the radio by Josh Wilson. Part of the song says,

"That was then, this is now. You’re bought by the blood, 

                       saved by the Son the saints all sing about

                                  That was lost, this is found

And it’s time to say goodbye to the old you now

So go ahead, put the past in the past

Box it up like an old photograph

You don’t have to go back

‘Cause that was then and this is now"

As I listened to that song, God brought to my mind the scene from the night before when I was digging through boxes in my attic. As I thought about that I realized that our past, our mistakes, the person we used to be, are a lot like photos that we pack away in the attic.  We can totally put away who we were, and live fully in the life God has given us now. From time to time we may go looking around in our old boxes and be reminded of our past and even deal with shame and guilt from those experiences but we don't have to stay there; those memories no longer define us. 

Honestly as I looked through those photos, I didn't remember most of what I saw. Trips I had been on, parties I had been a part of, people I had met; those were all memories that had been boxed away and only remembered when I went looking for something. I am grateful that the same is true our lives. Unless we go looking in our past and allow those memories to come out, we don't have to deal with the shame and guilt. Frankly, God doesn't want us to live that way. Jesus died so that we could live in freedom! This past year has been the first time I've lived in freedom. After sharing last May about the abortion I had at age 16, God has lead me into a place of total freedom from that dark time of my life. I used to worry over it and be filled with shame and buried with guilt. I always tried to hide it and never allowed myself to walk in the forgiveness God has given me. Now, I am no longer ashamed or chained by guilt. I still hate that choice and all the details that went along with it, but I don't wallow in grief any longer. I can box away that part of my life and live fully in what God has blessed me with now.

Today I am grateful that God isn't holding our past against us. He forgives and He wants us to walk in that forgiveness. I am thankful that I can box away those things I want to forget and only revisit those memories when I want or need to. I don't have to suffer because of my mistakes and neither do you. That was then, this is now. It really is ok to say goodbye to the old you because God has made you new!

I just believe someone needs to be told....

Go ahead, box those things up like an old photograph and walk in the freedom God wants for you!