From 4th through 8th grade, I lived across a country road from the railroad. It was noisy each time the trains came through. One day, when some friends were playing in my room, they jumped up yelling,“A train, a train!” The train came by, noisy, just as before, but I just somehow had turned it off. I hadn’t heard it! It had become white noise.
Recently, I put a note on our door “CELL PHONE”, so my wife would remember to bring it when going out. For a few days we dutifully followed the reminder, till today. As we walked out and down the hall, I asked Ruth “Do you have your cell phone?”
“No,” she responded.
The sign on our door was obvious, as usual, but had become wallpaper; like the white noise of the train, it was blank. Living the reality of forgiveness can be like that. When we talk about forgiveness, it usually focuses on the forgiver. But what about the forgiven? How do we handle receiving forgiveness?
THE UNREPENTANT EMPLOYEE
Are we the unrepentant employee in Matthew 18:21-25? He owed his master gobs of money (ten thousand bags of gold). After pleading for more time, the king mercifully forgave the whole debt. The servant then went on his merry way whistling thinking: “The sucker, he took my begging, hook, line and sinker. I’ll not be that gullible with those who owe me!” He didn’t appreciate that forgiveness involves a complete pardon of sin, a restoration of relationship, and the free gift offered to those who repent.
WALLOWING IN GUILT
Do we have difficulty appreciating when we are forgiven? We’ve heard it, but do we continue to wallow in our guilt? As we drown in the mire of the event, does the word “transgression” still resonate in our ears? Yes, God says He has forgiven me, but has He really?
This is where I struggle. The event happened and is stuck in my unforgiven head. I can’t let it go. How can God forgive me?
But wait… do we really trust and believe Jesus lived and died to take our sins upon Himself, cleansing and forgiving us? Are we humble and repentant, willing to change, like the Parodical Son (Luke 15:11-32)? If Christ did not pay the price, then He died for nothing.
LIVE THE FORGIVEN LIFE
Furthermore, if our spouse, a family member or neighbor forgives us, do we believe them? If they can forgive us, why can’t we forgive ourselves? Why do we still wallow in our transgression? Can we place it away on a shelf and live a “forgiven life”?
So, mark your next year’s August 19 calendar, to evaluate if this shelving idea worked… No, no, no! Forget that. Leave the 19th like the train noise, the note and transgression, you’re forgiven!
He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:10-12)