Pardon

Who knew the word of the day would come around so soon.  I was reading a devotional and the word "pardon" came up and you know what happens next, off to the dictionary.

Now I know what pardon means (well basically). You hear it every Thanksgiving when the lucky turkey gets pardoned.  Which in his case means he does not get cooked for dinner. But what does it mean for us?
Pardon: 

a release from the penalty of an offense; a remission of penalty, as by a governor.

the document by which such remission is declared.

forgiveness of a serious offense or offender

The devotional I have been reading is taking Psalm 51 apart verse by verse.  I would encourage everyone to read this because it is a wonderful Psalm. Here David is going before God with his sin, confessing it and looking to God for forgiveness, pardon, a new heart, a right spirit.  Before reading Psalm 51 I would strongly suggest reading 2 Samuel 11-12. 

Notice the cool thing about the word pardon.  It is a RELEASE from the penalty of an offense.  This means when we confess our sin and ask for forgiveness we are freed. We don't need to keep going back to God asking for His forgiveness over and over and we don't need to beat ourselves up because we made a mistake (sinned) we are freed from that sin and the penalty attached to it. This is what David is doing in Psalm 51 seeking God's forgiveness and accepting it. David knew he needed to be "pardoned" and he knew the only one who could do it was God.

I read the following quote the other day and thought it was great so wanted to share it (again).

“If He (God) hides the sin, or lesseneth it, He is faulty; if He leaves it still upon us, we die. He must then take our iniquity to Himself, make it His own, and so deliver us for thus having taken the sin upon Himself, as lawfully He may, and lovingly He doth, it followeth that we live if He lives; and who can desire more?”
John Bunyan

 Don't be afraid to go before God and confess. What He desires is to pardon (forgive) because He wants the relationship with you (us) restored.