Matthew 18:21-22
At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?”
Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
A few years ago, I backed my car out of a parking spot one afternoon… and promptly hit the back of another car that had just pulled into a slot directly behind me. I never saw the other car until I heard the awful crash. The only damage was a broken tail light on that car…no one was hurt. However, my grandmother was a passenger in my car, and she made sure I knew that I was making her late for her beauty shop appointment… and that she surely hoped I had not hurt my husband’s car! Let’s just say she was less than forgiving that I had inconvenienced everyone!
As it turns out, the car I hit was a foreign model, and that “little tail light” cost $1600 to repair. My insurance agent called with the estimate from the body shop, and my heart sank. However, she said, “Since you have a clean driving record and have never had an accident before, this is considered a ‘forgiven one.’ It will not count against your deductible. We’ll take care of everything.” I was more relieved than I can put into words. And I have been incredibly careful since then, because 1) I do not want to have another accident; and 2) there are no second “forgiven ones” with my insurance company!
Aren’t you glad that Jesus doesn’t berate us about the ways we inconvenience Him? Aren’t you thrilled to know that Jesus does not limit His forgiveness to one offense? Don’t you think that we should forgive others as Jesus forgives us? In fact, He has told us that we must forgive seventy times seven! It’s pretty clear to me that we are not supposed to impose a forgiveness quota on others!
The next time you are irritated with someone and tempted to say, “That’s it! I’m done for good!” - consider Jesus’ words to Peter. If you continue reading in Matthew 18, you will see that Jesus makes it clear that we cannot be unforgiving toward others and expect God to forgive us. Furthermore, your “forgiveness” cannot be mere lip service. Jesus tells us to forgive from the heart. I know this is really hard… and God knows this, too. But nobody said the life of a Christian was easy!
Insurance companies may not forgive seventy times seven… but Christian discipleship is nothing like State Farm, Allstate, Geico or Aflac! We are given much by our Heavenly Father. When it comes to how we treat others, much is expected in return. God will strengthen you and give you the courage - and the capacity to forgive over and again, if only you will call on Him. Who needs to be a “forgiven one” in your circle today?
©2013 Debbie Robus
Showing posts with label how you conduct yourself as a Christian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label how you conduct yourself as a Christian. Show all posts
Daily Devotional for November 12, 2012
Matthew 12:1-8
One Sabbath, Jesus was strolling with his disciples through a field of ripe grain. Hungry, the disciples were pulling off the heads of grain and munching on them. Some Pharisees reported them to Jesus: “Your disciples are breaking the Sabbath rules!”
Jesus said, “Really? Didn’t you ever read what David and his companions did when they were hungry, how they entered the sanctuary and ate fresh bread off the altar, bread that no one but priests were allowed to eat? And didn’t you ever read in God’s Law that priests carrying out their Temple duties break Sabbath rules all the time and it’s not held against them?
“There is far more at stake here than religion. If you had any idea what this Scripture meant—‘I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual’—you wouldn’t be nitpicking like this. The Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath; he’s in charge.”
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
I read a very interesting article at http://honors.uca.edu/wiki/index.php/Sunday_Blue_Law which tells the history of “Blue Laws” in Arkansas and the efforts by churches and religious leaders to encourage congregations to “avoid amusements, recreation, work, and unnecessary travel on Sundays.” The article further says that Sunday baseball had been illegal in our state since 1885.
In another section, the ridiculousness of this law is detailed… “In the 1960s the city of Little Rock banned sales of fresh Vienna sausage, pantyhose, and toilet paper, but put no similar restriction on bacon and bologna, baby clothes, or newspapers. Citizens of the city could buy lettuce but not cabbage. Cooked meats and fish could be purchased on Sunday, but not if sold in jars, bottles, or cans. In the 1970s, police arrested a shopkeeper for selling cups and sewing needles on Sunday. Another ran afoul of the law for selling nails, and a third for selling towels and a key chain. The point of prohibiting certain items but not others generally followed the rule of thumb that prohibiting certain or enough items would have the effect of keeping shops targeted by special interests closed entirely on the Lord's Day.”
Bear in mind that we could go to a restaurant and have a Sunday meal. It was apparently okay for cooks, dishwashers, wait staff and cashiers to work in an establishment where others were fed… but you could not buy certain foods at a grocery store to feed your family at home. My 21st-Century oven has a “Sabbath drawer” for warming food… a holdover from a time when it was considered sinful to cook on Sunday, so women prepared the meal on Saturday and warmed it in the oven on Sunday.
While this all seems absurd to us now… this law was not repealed in Arkansas until 1982…only 30 years ago! And some probably still wish that stores were not open on Sunday and people considered it more a day of rest than a time to catch up on shopping or do other things. But the point of this whole passage is made in one line… “I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual.” In other words…our Christian faith is not completely wrapped up in what we do on Sunday… or any other day, for that matter. If we are more concerned with ritual and appearances than the actual business of serving Jesus Christ – on ANY given day – we have totally missed the mark!
I’m not saying you should skip church on Sunday and go shopping or do something else. But you’re not necessarily a bad person if you do. If you have a job that requires you to work weekends – including Sundays – and you have a family to feed and bills to pay… there are other times and ways you can worship. And this is not just about what you do on Sundays… it’s much bigger. There are countless rituals, rules and requirements in every corner of the world and every denomination… from how to dress and wear your hair to whether or not you can eat meat – and what kinds of meat!... to whether you can have electricity and a telephone in your house. And when you drill it all down… none of these rituals and rules have a single thing to do with truly serving Jesus Christ and walking in faith with Him every day! I am not knocking traditions and religious tenets. If you attend a denomination that has specific requirements about your conduct - and you are comfortable with this - good for you! But do not let man-made laws dictate how you worship Jesus.
Study the scripture. Spend some time in prayer and meditation. Ask God what HE desires of you…and whether He finds fault with your conduct. If you are confident that you are obedient… faithful… and an honorable servant, then what others think really doesn’t matter. When we move our focus from pleasing man to pleasing God, everything changes. How flexible is your heart?
©2012 Debbie Robus
One Sabbath, Jesus was strolling with his disciples through a field of ripe grain. Hungry, the disciples were pulling off the heads of grain and munching on them. Some Pharisees reported them to Jesus: “Your disciples are breaking the Sabbath rules!”
Jesus said, “Really? Didn’t you ever read what David and his companions did when they were hungry, how they entered the sanctuary and ate fresh bread off the altar, bread that no one but priests were allowed to eat? And didn’t you ever read in God’s Law that priests carrying out their Temple duties break Sabbath rules all the time and it’s not held against them?
“There is far more at stake here than religion. If you had any idea what this Scripture meant—‘I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual’—you wouldn’t be nitpicking like this. The Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath; he’s in charge.”
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
I read a very interesting article at http://honors.uca.edu/wiki/index.php/Sunday_Blue_Law which tells the history of “Blue Laws” in Arkansas and the efforts by churches and religious leaders to encourage congregations to “avoid amusements, recreation, work, and unnecessary travel on Sundays.” The article further says that Sunday baseball had been illegal in our state since 1885.
In another section, the ridiculousness of this law is detailed… “In the 1960s the city of Little Rock banned sales of fresh Vienna sausage, pantyhose, and toilet paper, but put no similar restriction on bacon and bologna, baby clothes, or newspapers. Citizens of the city could buy lettuce but not cabbage. Cooked meats and fish could be purchased on Sunday, but not if sold in jars, bottles, or cans. In the 1970s, police arrested a shopkeeper for selling cups and sewing needles on Sunday. Another ran afoul of the law for selling nails, and a third for selling towels and a key chain. The point of prohibiting certain items but not others generally followed the rule of thumb that prohibiting certain or enough items would have the effect of keeping shops targeted by special interests closed entirely on the Lord's Day.”
Bear in mind that we could go to a restaurant and have a Sunday meal. It was apparently okay for cooks, dishwashers, wait staff and cashiers to work in an establishment where others were fed… but you could not buy certain foods at a grocery store to feed your family at home. My 21st-Century oven has a “Sabbath drawer” for warming food… a holdover from a time when it was considered sinful to cook on Sunday, so women prepared the meal on Saturday and warmed it in the oven on Sunday.
While this all seems absurd to us now… this law was not repealed in Arkansas until 1982…only 30 years ago! And some probably still wish that stores were not open on Sunday and people considered it more a day of rest than a time to catch up on shopping or do other things. But the point of this whole passage is made in one line… “I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual.” In other words…our Christian faith is not completely wrapped up in what we do on Sunday… or any other day, for that matter. If we are more concerned with ritual and appearances than the actual business of serving Jesus Christ – on ANY given day – we have totally missed the mark!
I’m not saying you should skip church on Sunday and go shopping or do something else. But you’re not necessarily a bad person if you do. If you have a job that requires you to work weekends – including Sundays – and you have a family to feed and bills to pay… there are other times and ways you can worship. And this is not just about what you do on Sundays… it’s much bigger. There are countless rituals, rules and requirements in every corner of the world and every denomination… from how to dress and wear your hair to whether or not you can eat meat – and what kinds of meat!... to whether you can have electricity and a telephone in your house. And when you drill it all down… none of these rituals and rules have a single thing to do with truly serving Jesus Christ and walking in faith with Him every day! I am not knocking traditions and religious tenets. If you attend a denomination that has specific requirements about your conduct - and you are comfortable with this - good for you! But do not let man-made laws dictate how you worship Jesus.
Study the scripture. Spend some time in prayer and meditation. Ask God what HE desires of you…and whether He finds fault with your conduct. If you are confident that you are obedient… faithful… and an honorable servant, then what others think really doesn’t matter. When we move our focus from pleasing man to pleasing God, everything changes. How flexible is your heart?
©2012 Debbie Robus
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