There was once this worldly woman, who lived her life as a prostitute and drug addict. She had given birth to children but that didn’t make her a mother. She had a mother and father who loved her but it still didn’t make her a daughter. She had siblings who would come to her rescue every time but that still didn’t make her a sister. She had folk who prayed for her but it didn’t make her a Christian because all she wanted was the streets and that’s all she had. Whenever people saw her around town, they would gossip because they knew she was smart, well-educated and from a very strong family, so they couldn’t understand how she could do all these terrible things to her body. They would pass her by, when she was begging on the streets because they wouldn’t dare help this sinner woman! They thought that surely God had given up on her which is why she was on the streets. Oh, and they judged her life like they had it all figured out even though the word, they should have been studying, told them in Luke 6:37, “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.” One day her old minister walked by her and she reached out her hand to him but because she was filthy and unchristian like, he jerked his hand back and hollered, “Don’t you dare touch me!” She said with tears streaming down her face, “Minister Jones, will you pray for me?” He looked at her with a look of disgrace and said, “Child, we stopped praying for you a long time ago because surely God wouldn’t allow his child to be out in the world like you!” He walked away with her pleas feeling the air, asking for his help and his prayers. She couldn’t understand how a man of God could just walk away without a care for someone who had back slide into the world. She didn’t think God was hearing her prayers so she didn’t pray for herself. She could call her momma and daddy but she was so afraid to let them down once again. So she sat in a dark alley and she cried herself to sleep. While sleeping, she dreamed that she was standing face to face with Jesus but she was dirty and hadn’t bathed in days, she tried to run from him; she didn’t want him to see her like that. But He said “You are my sister so there is no need to hide. My father in Heaven has sent me to you because He heard your cry.” She replied “I can’t believe that God has heard my cry, for I am a sinner in the world.” Jesus replied, “My father will never forsake his own. In his word He says, “It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed (Deuteronomy 31:8). Do you believe?” She said, “Yes, I believe.” Jesus replied “Then that is all you need.”
See, I don’t have to tell you how the story ends because if you’re a true saint then you should already know. Aren’t you glad that when God took you in, your past didn’t matter? He doesn’t have to run background and credit checks to accept you into his company. He doesn’t have to take a drug test to see if you’re clean before you start the job because it doesn’t matter. So, why are you holding on to past mistakes, bad choices, bad marriages/relationships, anger and hurt? Don’t you know that when you stepped onto God’s side, all of that old stuff didn’t matter anymore? Don’t believe me, read 2nd Corinthians 5:17 which say “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Just because you were an alcoholic in the past, it doesn’t mean you got vodka in your cup because it could be just water. Just because you use to have a drug habit in the past, it doesn’t mean you’re shooting up now when someone sees a syringe, you could be a diabetic. Just because you use to be a prostitute in the past, it doesn’t mean you sleep with every man you talk too. Stop allowing your past to dictate your future and stop trying to prove to folk that you’ve changed. If they can’t go by your word then they shouldn’t be in your world. God has given you your renewal notice and it’s just like when you go to get your car tags renewed. hey give you a sticker with the New Year that is supposed to cover the old year and when you place the new one over the old one, it is no longer seen. God is the same way. When he picks you up from that dirty, dusty grave that has been dug for you, he dusts you off and gives you a new mind and spirit and the old one is covered up and no longer visible. Just like the car tag sticker, the new one can’t be peeled off to see the old one because the old one is no longer needed. So get up and stand tall! Display the new you, the one that is no longer covered in dirt and mud but the one that has been made new in God’s likeliness. Leave all of that other stuff behind you and walk on. There isn’t a need to look back because whatever is behind you was left for a reason. Leave it there! Ephesians 4:22-24 says “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Lakisha, the Author 