"Ride Off"

Ride off, ride off, ride from it,

Ride on and don’t look back,

‘Cause if you do, spur up, it’s true,

You’ll find the grace you lack.

I know it was a failure,

You bucked off with a sin,

It was a wreck, Lord knows, I ‘spect,

You won’t do that again.

But the guilt falls on you heavy,

And the weight of your regret,

That yesterday will steal today,

If you relive it yet.

Ride off, ride off, ride from it,

Ride on and don’t look back,

Today is bright and full of light,

And keeps your heart on track.

And God gives His forgiveness,

It’s why Christ had to die,

When we forgive, God’s way to live,

And with His help we try,

To not just grace the others,

Who hurt us along the way,

But forgive yourself, ‘cause it will help,

I hear the Spirit say.

We don’t take grace for granted,

Or try to to find excuse,

Not what I mean, ‘cause we’ve all seen,

That’s no way to get loose,

From the ropes of sin that bind us,

And the strongholds we must break,

But find God’s change, and ride God’s range,

The Spirit’s power take.

And deal with all our history,

That’s thrown back in our face,

The accuser’s voice, we have a choice,

To put him in his place.

If God thought it was over, 

And we could do no more,

There is no doubt, He’d pull us out,

And close life’s earthly door.

But we’re still here and going,

Leg over, we still ride,

Today we go, by grace we know,

That God is by our side.

Ride off, ride off, ride from it,

Ride on and don’t look back,

Let go regret, the best is yet,

To come and that’s a fact.

“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus…” (Romans 8:1, NLT)

When we feel condemned for something God has forgiven, the accusing voice is not the Lord. It’s comes from one of two places, or both. Many times it’s our own voice that accuses us, when our regrets are so heavy we have a hard time letting them go. But we must, if we are to maximize today’s opportunity, and that’s what God wants us to do. The other voice is the devil, who is the accuser of the brethren. We must resist him, and we are told in scripture, he will flee. Learn from the past, but let it go, forgive yourself, and live today for the Lord.

Lord, help us forgive ourselves and live free of condemnation, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Ken Steinnerd, kensteinnerd.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Ken, and God bless you.