Seventy Times Seven Times

Good Monday morning! Yessir, I was right on the ball this morning until I heard Ken Davis come on the radio. I thought that I had made the time change without too much trouble, when that theme music came on telling me that I was about fifty minutes late. Slept right through most of the first hour of radio time and it was still dark when I got up. Boo hiss to the spring time change. For years I have been ready to die and be with Christ, but are we ready to live in Christ? Notice that I grabbed y'all and included you in the living too? After giving our lives to Christ, we are okay with being one of the last workers to the vineyard. A little bit of testimony, a few tithes, and let's go to Heaven Lord! However, most of us are called to be lifetime workers in the vineyard, and that is not quite so easy. God wants a full crop from His fields and the seed He planted in my heart and your heart may get the chance to grow to maturity in Christ.

One of the mature yields the Christian produces from the Vine is forgiveness. And one of the more difficult things to learn from the Spirit is to forgive. At first, we think that to forgive is simply to accept an apology for some slight in a social setting or some little injustice done by a friend. No problem, we tell the Lord. Later, we find that people can hurt us in larger ways, and they may not always apologize or even care that we were hurt. This forgiveness is not so easy. We feel the twisting of the bitterness worm inside and that hurt can grow if we are not careful. Suddenly, it becomes more clear why Jesus told Peter that he must forgive not seven times, but seventy times seven times. Some hurts in this world may require us to get up each morning and immediately forgive those who trespass against us. You or I may have a wound so deep that it hurts each morning when something triggers the memory of that hurt. We start to wonder how long it will take to arrive at 490 times. That 'no problem' soon becomes an "I need you Lord!"

Forgiveness for even small things can be a problem for some, but forgiveness for the deeper hurts sends all of us running to the shelter of our Lord Jesus. Perhaps that is why the big hurts come in our Christian lives. Forgiving the murderer who took a spouse from this life requires more than a mere human heart can give. That heart needs the grace of God. I need the grace of God for even the small things that seem to burn in my memory. Most likely you do as well. If we learn to forgive and forget, there is a certain Accuser who likes to arrange some reminder for us. Even the small stuff may require our forgiving seventy times seven times.

Love one another in Christ this week,
Bucky