oh I think I get it now...

A good friend (who also has 3 small boys) and I were relating about how similar our middle sons are, especially how sensitive they are compared to our older ones. We have to discipline Carter differently than older brother Noah. There are times that Carter will still say he is sorry for breaking a toy, spilling his drink, kicking the dog, etc. even days after it happened. When I'd already forgotten about it! It's common for me to say, "Carter honey, it's ok. We forgave you, and I've already forgotten about it. You don't have to keep bringing it up and saying you're sorry."

DING!

The light came on.

As I was talking to my friend, saying those very things... I said, "Wow. How many times do we do that with God? We keep saying we're sorry again and again when he forgave us the first time."

I love the song Ocean Floor by Audio Adrenaline

They're all behind you
They'll never find you
They're on the ocean floor
Your sins are forgotten
They're on the bottom
Of the ocean floor

Psalm 103:12, in the Contemporary English version says

How far has the LORD taken
our sins from us?
Farther than the distance
from east to west

And look at the Message Bible, taken from Psalm 103!

God is sheer mercy and grace;
not easily angered, he's rich in love.
He doesn't endlessly nag and scold,
nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve,
nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
he has separated us from our sins.
As parents feel for their children,
God feels for those who fear him.

Am I the only one that needed this today? Can I get an Amen?