Isaiah 25:8 English Standard Version (ESV) He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.

The title Clean Slate was used recently and it occurs to me that it did not say what some expected.

The issue of beginning again with a clean slate is a judicial issue. A judge can expunge our criminal records if he can find justification for it. This may be why some teach that justification before God is just as if it never happened.

The reproach of people is another matter. People do not forgive and forget and tend to cling to their attitude of reproach. It is far easier to gain God’s forgiveness than others.

One of the biblical definitions of reproach is resting upon the condition of shame. It is an emotional condition based on our own guilt. Another definition is a taunt or scorn by our tormentors.

Some of us find it very difficult to find that clean slate where our heavenly judge has erased our sins from the record. We rest upon the condition of shame. It becomes even more difficult if we cannot find forgiveness from those who were wounded by our transgressions.

Many find it difficult to accept God’s forgiveness because they have not, cannot, or refuse to forgive themselves. There is nothing we can do to change the past. There is little we can do to change the minds of our tormentors. How can we comfort others who are resting on a bed of shame if we have not found a way to get out of bed ourselves?

Who is telling us that we cannot get up off our bed of shame?

Isaiah 41:5-7 English Standard Version

⁵ The coastlands have seen and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble; they have drawn near and come. ⁶ Everyone helps his neighbor and says to his brother, “Be strong!” ⁷ The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith, and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, “It is good”; and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved.

The advice yesterday came without supporting scripture. That was a matter of personal experience, from both sides of choking.

With this opening verse please understand that the desire to help a friend does not mean we are a craftsman that is equipped to handle every situation. Just saying “be strong” does not always give those in trouble what they need. We should have someone within our sphere of influence that has the skills to craft a better answer.

Do not try to be the hero. A drowning victim will take down the hero if the wrong approach is used.

A dear friend has written in the past about being a tool for God. Sometimes we are the hammer, sometimes the anvil.

We are not the craftsman. God has crafted us. The goldsmith is only one title used to exemplify the value of what is being worked in us. My friend is not a goldsmith, he is a wordsmith. His computer is his tool.

Soldering is a bonding operation. Solder is not a tool, it is an element. Nails are not tools, they are implements. How we see ourselves being used of God defines how we act.

See yourself as a nail and you have pierced others. Nails were used to pierce Christ to the Cross.

Some see nails as our sins that nailed Christ to the Cross.

If that image will help us to avoid sin, then it has some value.

Just remember it is the craftsman that strengthens us. He is God.