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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 4, NUMBER 17, APRIL 25, 2004 TAKING IT BACK Some time back I purchased a product from a local department store only to find out later that they had inadvertently given me their “top of the line” model rather than the cheaper one I had actually paid for. Now this thing was heavy, bulky and half put together before I recognized the mistake. There was no way I could disassemble the thing and get all of those pieces back in that little box that it came in (not and keep a respectable amount of sanity anyway). So there I sat. What would you do? I refused to call them. I don’t like calling department stores. They seem to delight in playing the “holding” and “passing” games as they pass the buck and transfer you to eighteen different departments before accidentally (?) cutting you off and handing you back your dial tone (you’ve been there, right?) I wrote them instead – a nice letter, mind you, to explain the complexities of the problem. In a few days I received a most congenial call from the store manager who thanked me for my honesty while implying that most people are not truthful (that’s a bit discouraging!) Anyway, I was to bring $27.50 to the store on my next trip in and he would consider us square. That meant keeping the more expensive model at half the cost had I bought it in the first place. Fair enough. Have you ever tried going to a department store and handing them $27.50? It’s not an easy thing to do. They didn’t want it. In fact, in the confusion, the cashier gave “me” $27.50. (This honesty thing can really get to you sometimes.) I persevered and squared the account and left the store with a dozen people thinking I was more than a little loony. Oh well… Sometimes people can be like that department store. For example, you sin against someone and seek to rectify the relationship by asking for forgiveness and all you get is the old “I’ll forgive but not forget” disposition of bitterness. The Bible says plainly “to forgive each other as God in Christ has forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32). We need to understand that forgiveness is not an elective in Christian living but is, in fact, a required course! “But I just can’t forgive…” - than you had better not sin! Read and reread Matthew 18:21-35 (the parable of the unmerciful servant). Note verse 34 – “and his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers…” We usually read that and make reference to the coming day of Judgment but I would like to suggest for your consideration that the individual who refuses to forgive while harboring grudges and bitter feelings toward another will, indeed, be handed over to the torturers not only then but NOW! To see a life that should be devoted to God and good eaten away with the cancer of resentment and bitterness in the gall of hatred and envy is the most pitiable sight of all. An unforgiving spirit will do a number on you NOW! And do you know what is the truth? It’s not worthy the misery! You show me a contented person and I’ll show you someone who knows the merits of mercy and the joy of forgiveness. Can the mind ever forget? Technically the answer is no. But the mind can OVERLOOK. “Love does not take into account a wrong suffered” (1 Cor. 13:5). “I forget what lies behind…” (Phil. 3;13). Think of all the people Paul could have included on his “hate list”. But he had no list. He refused to dwell on that. He intentionally disregarded all wrongs against him and refused to be embittered. Do you know that some try to excuse their bitterness with – “It’s too late for me to change…I’ve been injured and wronged more than you will ever know…It’s too great to forget…Maybe Paul could but not me…” Do you know what that is? That is ARROGANCE GONE TO SEED! That person sees himself/herself as the exception to the rule of forgiveness and is defiantly determined not to change because life has dealt them a bad deal. Let me ask you something – do you perceive that you are the only one who has ever been hurt or short-changed or ripped off or wronged? You are no different and I’m not either. How badly do you want to go to heaven? Badly enough to forgive you brother? I hope so. What you and I forgive is small compared to what God erases. How can we begin to compare the debt? The next time you are tempted to give one his “just due” just remember what God would give you if He gave you what you deserved. “But______ does not deserve my mercy…” If he deserved it, it wouldn’t be mercy! “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy…” While people may disappoint you in their application of Christianity regarding forgiveness, God doesn’t work that way. In the first place, He doesn’t make mistakes – BUT WE DO! We mess up. We give in to wrong. We sin. And, yet, through Jesus we can have forgiveness conditioned upon our confession and repentance: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Now isn’t that easy? Of course confession of sins implies repentance of sins. Obviously God will not forgive the sins of one intending to keep on sinning (acts 8:22). There must be a change of heart and course of action. If we would only take our troubles to God. He doesn’t give you the run-around. He doesn’t pass the buck. He simply forgives. And when God has forgiven we must learn to forgive ourselves. I heard of a man who said – “I don’t know what’s wrong. I’ve prayed 100 times that God would forgive me and I still feel guilty.” Do you know what his problem was? He prayed for forgiveness 99 times too many. He should have prayed once for forgiveness and 99 times to thank the Lord that he had been forgiven. We need to WAKE THE WORLD AND TELL THE PEOPLE that Christianity is the only way to live. It is the only lifestyle that merits recommendation. And why? Because only the Christian can have the forgiveness of sin. What greater blessing can there possibly be? “Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His blessings; Who pardons all your iniquities…” (Psalm 103:2-3) From the pen of Wilson Adams. Wilson will be here in one week.
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