Make allowance for each
other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must
forgive others. Colossians 3:13 (NLT)
What’s so good about writing a daily blog is whenever
you have finished writing and posting today, if you find there’s a better way
to say it, or if you could have said more but ran out of space….well, there’s
always tomorrow. Well, here’s part 2
about the forgiveness of my Uncle Charlie.
Today is Good Friday, the day of the beatings,
mocking, cross-carrying, nails in the hands and feet, suffering, death and
burial of our Lord.
Where does Uncle Charlie fit in here? (Beside the fact that, like so many of you,
Uncle Charlie believed in the gift of Jesus’ suffering and death to bring our
salvation).
Here are a couple things I didn’t get to say yesterday
about the gift of forgiveness:
1. Like
God’s gift of the cross, Uncle Charlie gave to me something very dear to
him. My uncle had carried that gun
through Europe and kept it safe since before I was born. And when he gave it there were no strings
attached. That speaks very much of how
loved I was, both by God and my uncle.
2. When
I came home without that gun I knew I’d messed up by losing my uncle’s
treasure. There was nothing I could do
to “un-do” what had been done, or repay or replace the irreplaceable. I also knew I could never live this one down;
I would be “that kid who lost Uncle Charlie’s piece of history”. But when I came to him, broken hearted, he
simply said “what gun”? Like God says to
me now, what sin?
3. When
the gracious heart and hand of forgiveness was extended to me by an earthly
uncle, it became my example and pattern to do that for others. And it serves as a pattern for the calling of
proclaiming and extending the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all persons.
There’s a bond which develops between those forgiven
and those who have forgiven them. That
bond transcends keeping score; you just know there’s not much better trust than
that.
Over the years as I grew into the forgiveness extended
to me, I learned to minister to others.
All along the way I had the prayers of my Aunt and Uncle, and during
some dark times near the end of their lives I was given the privilege of
ministering to them.
Today…for you
As you prepare for the
darkness of Good Friday and then the glorious resurrection of Easter Sunday,
let me encourage you to do the work of making room for others in your
heart.
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