With the coming of a new year, my mind is taken back to a poem I memorized when I was twelve years old. I have searched and cannot find who wrote it in one of its several versions, but it is one which has had a profound impact on my life. I hope it will have the same impact on yours!
There are two verses, very similar, and this makes it easier to recall.
“I came to my teacher with quivering lips, my task undone.
Teacher, hast thou another sheet for me; I have soiled this one?
He took the old sheet, stained and blotted, and gave me a new one clean and unspotted;
And smiled and said, Do better this time, my child.”
The name of the teacher in my life doesn’t matter (it was A. J. Rollins at Athens Bible School), but his life was devoted to helping every child grow. I can never forget him, for he lived this poem in the way he dealt with me.
There is a new year lying before us, and what a great time to reflect about taking the past year, in which we made so many mistakes and blunders, and letting them be buried as we turn to a new year with a determination to do better this time, my child.
If that first verse was a blessing to you because of an unnamed teacher in your life, the second verse will help you.
“I came to my Father with quivering lips, my life undone.
Father, hast thou another life for me; I have soiled this one?
He took my old life, stained and blotted, and gave me a new one, clean and unspotted;
And smiled and said, Do better with this one, my child.”
Far too many Christians limit God’s grace and live a life characterized by depression. They will not forgive themselves for the past and conclude that they “are not worthy to receive grace.” They are so ashamed of how little good they have done and feel like God should reject them. “Father, I have soiled my life, and I wish that I had not made such a mess.” God waits, ready to take us and our past. He waits, ready to gladly take us with our stained and blotted past and give us a new one.
The rabbis may have set the limit of forgiveness at three, but Peter took that number, doubled it and added one for good measure. Peter’s number was seven. Jesus said not just seven, but seven times in one day (Luke 17:4). Jesus then multiplied that number by seventy!
It’s a new year. It’s time for a new life! Come humbly before Him! He has a new, unspotted life ready for you!