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“Our guilty conscience becomes a curtain that separates us from God.”

A thought by Max Lucado (2012-01-02) from his book, He Chose the Nails  (p. 84). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

That is so true, isn’t it?  Max says, “As a result, we hide from our Master.”

He continues, “That’s exactly what my dog, Salty, does. He knows he isn’t supposed to get into the trash. But let the house be human free, and the dark side of Salty takes over. If there is food in a trash can, the temptation is too great. He will find it and feast.

“That’s what he had done the other day. When I came home, he was nowhere to be found. I saw the toppled trash, but I didn’t see Salty. At first, I got mad, but I got over it. If I were cooped up all day with only dog food to eat, I might rummage a bit myself. I cleaned up the mess and went about the day and forgot about it.

“Salty didn’t. He kept his distance. When I finally saw him, his tail was between his legs, and his ears were drooping. Then I realized, ‘He thinks I’m mad at him. He doesn’t know I’ve already dealt with his mistake.’”

Max then applies this to us.  He says, “God isn’t angry with you. He has already dealt with your mistake.

“Somewhere, sometime, somehow you got tangled up in garbage, and you’ve been avoiding God. You’ve allowed a veil of guilt to come between you and your Father. You wonder if you could ever feel close to God again. The message of the torn flesh is you can. God welcomes you. God is not avoiding you. God is not resisting you. The curtain is down, the door is open, and God invites you in.”

He then says, “Don’t trust your conscience. Trust the cross. The blood has been spilt, and the veil has been split. You are welcome in God’s presence.”

Easter is all about the fact that Jesus died so we can have direct access to God. 
That big curtain in the Temple that kept us from God was ripped apart from the top to the bottom the moment Jesus died.  We now have access to God not through a thirty-foot wide, sixty-foot tall curtain but through His Son Jesus.  Don’t let that curtain of sin, of guilt in your life, keep you from God.  Just ask Him to forgive you.   

So, will you let Jesus rip that veil of guilt in your life down?
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