Daily Devotional Thought--From the Psalms

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

From the Psalm for today: Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered" (Psalm 32:1).

Maybe you know someone who has a classic car in his or her garage, or maybe you have one yourself. Chances are, the owner of such a classic will utilize some sort of dust cover in order to keep the valuable antique's paint job shining bright. But when he wants to show her off, out she comes from underneath her covering.

It's not so with us. You and I have been covered, as the verse above clearly proclaims. But in our case, what is covered is not so beautiful. "I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,' and you forgave the iniquity of my sin" (32:5).

Like a man who drives his classic car around for all to see BEFORE restoring her, allowing his neighbors and other "motor heads" to see all the rust, the worn out leather seats, and everything else that caused her to be thrown aside and left for dead in the junkyard, the psalmist acknowledges that he is dirty and rusty and worn out--he is full of sin.

When we don't cover up our sin, but acknowledge it before our heavenly Father, He covers it himself. He remembers the sacrifice of His Son, where all the rust and decay--all the sin--that has kept us from being his beautiful and righteous creatures was taken away and covered up by the cross. He remembers that His Crucified Son came out of the tomb with a new and glorious body, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor. 15:20-23). And then He covers us with the very life of Christ.

But UNLIKE a classic car's dustcover, this one isn't coming off. While the Devil, the World and your sinful flesh will remind you of what used to be--your dirty and filthy and unacceptable sinful self--the covering given you by your heavenly Father isn't simply a facade that is ripped off when it's time to go out and live. The covering that He gives you is who you are in Christ. It's how He sees you, when you can only see what used to be. It's why he welcomes you, and parades you around as His sons and daughters, because you are shiny, and beautiful, and restored as the crown of His creation. And that, he doesn't want to cover up.

You see, when God covers something up, He doesn't take it off. In Christ, you are a new creation, the old has gone, and the new has come (2 Cor. 5:17).

Restored in Christ. Amen.