We live in an information age. There are security cameras on street corners, email zipping across the Internet, and smart phones in every hand. Others know more about us than at any other age in the history of the world.
The past is no longer easy to hide. Forgotten deeds can jump up to haunt us at any time.
Several years ago a horrendous murder was committed. During the act a digital camera was knocked off a shelf. As it hit the floor, it snapped a photo of the deed in progress. The murderer realized what had happened and attempted to destroy the camera, breaking it apart and tossing it in a washing machine.
Sometime later she was brought to trial. Much to her dismay, police had been able to pull the image from the camera, placing her at the crime scene.
Just as with that image, our sins are stored away unless we repent. Only God can permanently delete them.
Read in Hosea 13:14. This verse tells how God laments the downfall of Israel’s morals, for she had turned to other gods. Yet, in verse 15, we read that Israel was doing well among the nations. Outwardly she was at the top of her game.
We need to be careful. Just because we are doing well in our job, our marriage is successful, and the world respects us doesn’t mean we are in right standing with God. The world isn’t our judge. The Almighty God our Father is the one who will decide our innocence or guilt.
Look back in Verse 12. God has pulled the camera out of the washing machine, and he has downloaded what Israel thought hidden. Her sin and guilt are on record, and God has stored them safely away for future reference.
Hosea goes on to tell us that if Israel is too foolish to repent, she will be brought low. God will send plagues, death, and destruction upon her.
In Revelation 18:5, God speaks of the sins of Babylon. John describes how her sins are piled to the heavens, remembered as a stench before the Almighty God, and how she will suffer twice the pain she has wrought upon others.
Our sins are the same. However, God has also given us the way out. In Hosea 14:1-2, he pleads with Israel, “Come back to the Lord your God. Because of your sin, you have brought yourself low. Come before your God, ask him to forgive your sins, and praise him for his goodness.”
It is that easy. In Hosea 14:4, God says, “If my people repent, I will love them, and I will no longer be angry with them.”
He will be the source of all our blessings.
Only God can delete our sins from the record book. All we have to do is repent, and he will smile upon us once again.
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