What God Won’t Erase

Getting new school supplies is a ritual most children look forward to as the lazy days of summer wind down and the August calendar brings a new year of study and schedules. Pencils finely sharpened, new boxes of brilliant-colored crayons, bottles of school glue, and those large pink Pearl Erasers are staples for returning students.

The Pearl Eraser in the local school supply isle has a unique smell—it’s the volcanic ash in its ingredients.  Created by Casper Faber in 1848 as an eraser for graphite, its smaller, pea-sized companions were first added to pencils in Brooklyn in 1872. A small utensil for eliminating our classroom mistakes, the Pearl Eraser has endured the test of time!

Everyone needs a good eraser in life. Mistakes are going to be made and the kind that can be erased off of paper are usually harmless and quickly forgotten. But we all know that not every mistake or wrong choice can be erased. There is no pink eraser big enough.

God wants us to learn from the mistakes, and even the sins of others. The pages of the bible hold the story of us. The message of God’s love for us is interwoven throughout the books and chapters, along with the stories of men and women who served God and those who did not. It records many wars and celebrations, triumphs and defeats, holiness and justice, and evil seeming to have the upper hand for a time.  It is the history of mankind and it can never be erased. God knew from the beginning that it should never be:

We will not hide them from their children, but we will tell to the generation to come the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, and His might, and the wonderful works that He has performed. Psalm 78:4

Telling our children of the goodness of God is one of the most important, life-giving things we can ever do for them. Some of the events recorded in the bible are easier to receive and understand than others, but we benefit from every one of them. The victories bring encouragement and faith to our hearts, and the defeats serves as warnings from a God Who loves us and wants only the very best for each of us. Our history is one thing God won’t erase and that is right– because through it we see His ways with us woven throughout time.