Hebrews 8:12 “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

When I was fifteen, I woke up in my bed one afternoon wondering why I was in bed and not remembering anything that happened earlier in the day. Not knowing what to do, I called out for my mom. When she came into my room, I told her that I couldn’t remember anything since the day before. She told me that I had gone for a walk with my crutches and had fallen, hitting my head on the sidewalk. Since I couldn’t remember that happening, my mom decided to take me to the emergency room. It turns out I had a mild concussion and suffered temporary amnesia.

It was a very strange feeling not being able to remember. It was as if that day never existed. Truthfully, it scared me.

One form of amnesia doesn’t scare me though. In fact, this form of amnesia makes me rejoice. I’ll call it holy amnesia. When we confess our sins to God and have a heart desire to turn away from them, God forgives us. But even more than that, God forgets our sins. He truly forgives and forgets.

I can say to God, “Remember that sin I confessed last week?” His answer will always be, “No.”

Because of God’s great mercy, he chooses to have amnesia in regard to our confessed sin. When we give our lives to Christ, God will never bring up our past sins. We could have been the worst sinners that walked the face of this earth before we got saved, but when we get saved he wipes our slate clean.

We may remember our past sins, but God doesn’t. Satan may tempt us to feel condemned about our past sins, but if God already forgave them he will not condemn us. He loves us too much to condemn us. Shouldn’t that be cause to rejoice?

Take some time today to thank God for his holy amnesia.