2 Corinthians 6:1-2King James Version (KJV)
6 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
This morning, as I was getting ready for church, I saw something that needed to be corrected quickly. I had the water running while I was shaving. Our sink drains slowly, so water tends to fill up quickly with the water running. Beside the sink is a gift my wife received recently. It's a wax melting thingy that keeps the wax hot, thereby releasing a sweet smell into the air.
What I noticed was that the plugged in and in use chord to this thing was hanging down into the sink (the on/off switch is on the chord and it was that switch that was lower most in the sink). The water level had risen to a point where it was about 1 inch from the switch. If not corrected, there is a possibility that one of the times I dipped my razor into the water to rinse it, I could be severely electrically shocked- maybe unto death.
I corrected the problem, but the thought hit me that we, as humans, all live our lives every day one inch from death. Any moment something could happen and our lives could be snuffed out: a car accident, an allergic reaction, a crazy gunman while your shopping, even a freak electrical accident. Anything could happen at any time.
Are we ready to meet Jesus today?
We all seem to carry a lot of baggage that we don't need to carry.
Brother so and so hurts our feelings. A wife offends us. A husband disappoints his wife. A child says something hurtful to his parents. The boss treats us wrong. God doesn't answer us in the way we wish and we even get upset with him.
The Lord's prayer tells us to forgive others. More than that, it tells us to ask God to help us to forgive others. It matters not the offence. It matters not who the offender is. We are called to forgive. If we do not, it will weigh us down.
When we refuse to forgive, we start to turn angry inside. Anger leads to bitterness. Bitterness will destroy us. We must ask God to help us forgive others and ask him to dig out that root of bitterness. And we must do it today- now!
We are not promised tomorrow. We are not promised another second. We must release the pain and hurt into the hands of God and let him deal with those that hurt us. We must learn to walk in forgiveness.
God forgave us. Can we not forgive others? We cannot be like the unrighteous servant who was forgiven the millions he owed, but refused to forgive the hundreds his fellow servant owed. If we are, we will be lost.
Only our forgiving others will enable the master healer to work on our hearts and heal us. Then, he can help us to experience his joy and peace- even in the midst of the storm.
Please, my friend, forgive.
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Lord, help us to forgive others as you have forgiven us.
