Have you ever looked back on your MySpace account?  All the random surveys on the bulletin board, your top 8, your choice of song to play on your profile page?  And then there's those of us who had Xanga.  For all you youngins, that was a blog site that existed before MySpace.  Unfortunately I still remember my login information for it and recently went back to read my posts from the Xanga days.  Wow.  How I still have friends from that era of my life is beyond me. Embarrassing.

Thankfully, we don't look back on our questionable social media days to pick our friends.  To join SAO, you did not have to give up your MySpace password so the sisters could read the poems you posted as your notes (Oh, is that just me?). We've learned to move past all that.

Yet how many times do we question our standing with God because of our past?  How many times do we limit ourselves from pursuing positions He puts in front of us because we think, "You don't know who I was before.  You don't know the things I did."  And maybe you're right.  But so what?

You see, the beautiful thing about our God is that He's a God focused on futures, not pasts.  My favorite verse of all time says, "'For I know the plan I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."  (Jeremiah 29:11)  And yet I haven't found a verse where He speaks of condemning us for our pasts; He only promises bright things for our futures.

But I'll be the first to admit that I get caught up with my own past sometimes.  And yes, I get caught up on others' pasts as well.  I hold grudges.  I steer clear of people I've wronged or embarrassed myself in front of even years ago. And yet I'm thankful that I worship a God who is big enough to get past that, especially when I'm not able to.

As we go into a new year, we see it as a new beginning. I encourage you today, and every day, to allow yourself that new beginning and allow yourself to focus on God's promise for your future.  I also encourage you to allow those around you to do the same.  And let's be thankful that our God has already forgotten our past mistakes because He's too focused on planning our wonderful futures.

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