I attended a workshop in Newton several years ago. As an ice breaker, the presenter asked: “Please reveal something about yourself that will be a surprise to the rest of the class.” When my turn came, I said: “I am probably the only one here who has been taken to the edge of town by the Newton police and told to never come back, so please don’t tell them I am here.”

I think of that incidence and others when I read Psalm 25:7: Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord are good.”

The surprising thing about this verse is not the possibility of feeling God’s hand of judgment. What I find to be so amazing is the wonder of God’s grace and mercy. In His grace, he gives me what I do not deserve–salvation. In His mercy, he does not give me what I do deserve–judgment.

The grace and mercy of God are the extravagant dimensions of God’s love. When the Apostle Paul contemplated this, he encouraged the Ephesians to: “Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God (The Message, Ephesians 3:14-19).”

So, what is your concept of God? Is he just a God who points a guilty finger at you, or is He the God who wraps you up in his arms of amazing grace?

Hope this thought warms you on this cold February day.