In my early thirties I became a novice homeowner. I had a pretty good idea how to make repairs and do general home maintenance, things I learned from my Dad. He had an amazing talent for designing, building and fixing.
It was a beautiful home, some might call it pretentious, for an up and coming stockbroker. The house was located on a prestigious golf course with the 16th green almost in our back yard. Those were the beginning days of material and give-it-to-me-now priorities. How foolish and totally meaningless!
The driveway stretched from the curb, carved through the front lawn and along the side of the house with the garage entrance around back. It was quite a large area to shovel on those cold, snowy days of winter. Sometimes I didn’t shovel, we just roughed it.
The drive was made of macadam, a surface made from small pieces of stone mixed with tar, and needed to be resealed every few years, usually in early fall. So this one year, I drove to the hardware store and bought a few five gallon cans of driveway sealer along with the necessary application tools. I spent an entire day applying, spreading and smoothing. I was really pleased with the outcome except for one thing. It never dried!
I went back to the store and the manager told me the manufacturer had mislabeled the cans and I had just sealed my driveway with roofing tar. That’s right. Roofing tar! What a mess. The store made it right and a week later the garage was again in use.
Have you tried to cover your secret past as you would seal a driveway? It might work with humans but is impossible with God. He knows all, He sees all and He hears all. No personal sealers can hide your immoral failings and sinful deeds from Him.
Listen to these words from the Old Testament,
“Do not keep talking so proudly
or let you mouth speak such arrogance,
for the Lord is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighted.”
1 Samuel 2.3
The God of the Bible is a God of forgiveness. As long as we place our defective moments before the throne of pardon, with absolute and sincere repentance, He will forgive and forget. The trick is to be aware of and stop our constant and destructive behavior beforehand.
Do this and all your tears of regret will remain forever dry.
2 Corinthians 7:10
Manna and Coffee 
