“I – yes, I alone – am the one who blots out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.” - Isaiah 43:25

The Creator doesn’t forgive us for our own sake. He doesn’t erase our sins for our own gain. He doesn’t wipe away our screw-ups and mess-ups and failures for our own good pleasure. The cross wasn’t even for us. God wipes away our sins for his own sake. He erases our sins, blots them out of history, and doesn’t think of them ever again; your sins will never cross the thought or heart of your Lover. We can fall victim to believing God erases our mistakes for us, but he really does it for himself. He desires us more than we desire him! He wants us more than we want him! He wants our hearts and love and cries out, “Pursue me! Pursue me!” You are on his mind more than he is on yours. The guiding force behind all creation, behind all the acts of unfolding history, the force behind the Story from Genesis to Revelation, is God’s delight in us and his desire to be with us. He is the Lover and we are the Beloved.