Long rides make me wax philosophic. As you can see from the image, today was a rainy ride and because I am fairly Lutheran as I was washing fifty miles of grit off my feet I thought of forgiveness.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.

The word used in this Psalm for “create” is Bara which is has specific meaning. It referes to creating out of nothing, something only God can do.

I also have been thinking about God’s eternalness. Which in my understanding means that God is experiencing every moment of time all the time. Said another way, for God there is no past or future only present.

There is debate about this fact, but it is a truth I hold.

What does that mean for my understanding of forgiveness, of bara, of creating something new?

It means that God sees all of my life, every experience every joy every sorrow every sin every blessing and is constantly renewing and redeeming each moment.