No Fishing!

It is Wednesday morning 28th October 2020, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for the day.

If we go to the Book of Joshua Chapter 5 and I am reading verse 9:

“Then the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.”

That is an amazing statement.

Maybe today you feel like you have disappointed someone in your life;

Maybe you have let the show down;

Maybe when you were a young girl, you had an abortion, and you didn’t know what you were doing;

Maybe you have broken up a marriage;

Maybe you have stolen money and you just can’t find a way to pay it back;

Maybe you are feeling disappointed in yourself today.

Well, I want to tell you some good news.

2 Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 17 says:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

When Jesus forgives, He forgets.

There is no going back to Egypt.

I heard a song a while back and it was entitled, “Don’t let the old man in.”

I think for some of us today, we are letting the old man in.

You are feeling guilty. You are feeling condemned. It is coming from the pit of hell.

The devil is a liar and he wants to hold you as much as he can.

You know, many years ago, when Jill and I arrived from Zambia, we brought everything we could fit into that old truck.

We brought in farming equipment, personal household equipment - everything, and I did not declare everything at the border when I came through.

Well, two or three years later, after I met Jesus Christ as my Saviour, the devil used to continually attack me.

He used to say, “You are a smuggler. You are a thief. You did not declare your personal goods at the border.

And it started getting to me so badly, I was losing my joy.

I said to Jill and the kids one day, “I am going down to the Customs House in Pietermaritzburg and I am going to confess what I have done.

Well, eventually I drove down to the Customs House and the Chief Customs Officer was there, because it was lunchtime and all the other young guys had gone off - you see, God only puts the best in place - only the best!

I said, “Sir, I want to come and tell you that I brought stuff in and I didn’t declare it.”

He got out his book and he said, “Well, tell me what it was,” and I gave him the full list, and when I had finished, he looked at me and said, “All that stuff is duty free. You don’t owe us a thing.”

Well, I didn’t walk out that office, I flew out that office like an eagle.

I ran down the steps. I was greeting everybody in the street.

I was free. You see, when Jesus died on the cross, He said “It is finished.” And He meant it.

So today, put those accusations of the devil in that pond. Put a big signboard up there, “No fishing!” and leave it in the hands of a forgiving God and move on with your life.

God bless you and have a wonderful day.