Today’s Scripture Readings:
Psalm 17:10-15
Exodus 5:22 - 7:24
Matthew 18:23-19:12
Proverbs 5:22-23
Today’s Scripture Focus: Matthew 18:23-19:12
"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant', he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
We
are all like the man who owed ten thousand talents. Having
accumulated an enormous debt of sin, our only hope is to cry to God for
mercy--looking for grace and forgiveness.
Our heavenly Father freely forgives the debt and sets us free. He is pleased to lavish his grace and mercy upon us.
We are to follow the example of the Father, showing mercy and forgiveness to those who sin against us. Those who receive mercy should be the first to give it to others. We, like the man in the story, must each learn to "forgive your brother from your heart" (35). "Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?"
Yet many who have received mercy from God, act just as the man in the story. They withold forgiveness--they refuse to forgive from the heart.
Jesus teaches that those who are forgiven must extend forgiveness. It is a condition laid out for us, if we are to be forgiven. This was also the teaching in the Lord's prayer: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
But Jesus words are even more stark in this passage: "'You wicked servant, he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? In anger his master turned him over the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
Forgiveness is not an option. It doesn't matter how great the offense. It doesn't matter how many times we are sinned against. We must forgive even as we have been forgiven.
You've carried your burden too long (unforgiveness is a terrible burden that eats us up on the inside), it's time to take the offenses to the cross and leave them there. It's time to forgive --really forgive-- to forgive from your heart.
With Joy,
Pastor Jeff
Tomorrow's Scripture Readings:
Psalms 18:1-6
Exodus 7:25 - 9:35
Matthew 19:13-30
Proverbs 6:1-5
©2004 by Jeffrey R. Syverson. Feel free to share with others, but give credit where credit is due.
Our heavenly Father freely forgives the debt and sets us free. He is pleased to lavish his grace and mercy upon us.
We are to follow the example of the Father, showing mercy and forgiveness to those who sin against us. Those who receive mercy should be the first to give it to others. We, like the man in the story, must each learn to "forgive your brother from your heart" (35). "Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?"
Yet many who have received mercy from God, act just as the man in the story. They withold forgiveness--they refuse to forgive from the heart.
Jesus teaches that those who are forgiven must extend forgiveness. It is a condition laid out for us, if we are to be forgiven. This was also the teaching in the Lord's prayer: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
But Jesus words are even more stark in this passage: "'You wicked servant, he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? In anger his master turned him over the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
Forgiveness is not an option. It doesn't matter how great the offense. It doesn't matter how many times we are sinned against. We must forgive even as we have been forgiven.
You've carried your burden too long (unforgiveness is a terrible burden that eats us up on the inside), it's time to take the offenses to the cross and leave them there. It's time to forgive --really forgive-- to forgive from your heart.
With Joy,
Pastor Jeff
Tomorrow's Scripture Readings:
Psalms 18:1-6
Exodus 7:25 - 9:35
Matthew 19:13-30
Proverbs 6:1-5
©2004 by Jeffrey R. Syverson. Feel free to share with others, but give credit where credit is due.