|
Forgiven Forever Lisa sat on the floor of her old room all alone, staring at the old shoebox that she had decorated years before—it was her Memory Box. It was similar to the many Valentine's Day boxes that she had made in school throughout the years of growing up, but this one was even more special. As she fingered through the pictures and knick-knacks, which had become precious to her, she found—at the bottom of the box—her forgiveness chart. Oh, how the memories flooded her heart and soul as she sat in silence! Years earlier, when her brother Brent and she, were just children, they heard about forgiveness in Sunday School. Peter had asked Jesus just how many times should we forgive each other, suggesting seven times. But Jesus said, "I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." (Mt. 18:22) Taking it literally, Lisa made up a chart and proceeded to check-off, throughout the years, 490 times she messed up and Brent needed to forgive her. When the last box was checked, they had a small ceremony to declare "no more mess-ups." Well, then came the big one—Lisa forgot to relay a telephone message to Brent concerning trying out for the New York City Orchestra—a once in a lifetime opportunity. She was absolutely devastated! Feeling she could never be forgiven for this one, she left home that afternoon and got a job as a waitress in Boston. Three years later, a customer—a friend of the family—relayed the terrible news…Brent had been killed in a horrible car wreck! Lisa, even more devastated than before, drove home that very afternoon. Alone, on the floor of her room, she found an envelope just below the chart—a new chart with a note attached—"Dear Lisa, It was you who kept count, not me. But if you're stubborn enough to keep count, use the new chart I've made for you. Love, Brent" All 490 boxes were empty—only one check remained at the top, and written in red all across the page, with a felt pen, were these words—"Number 491. Forgiven, forever." Such is love, isn't it? What a powerful picture of the forgiveness that was purchased at the Cross of Calvary! But it didn't begin there—it goes back before the foundation of the world, and all who will be alone and quiet before the Lord, will find it! In the Book of Genesis, we find the amazing story of the patriarch Jacob and his twelve sons. It is hard to imagine finding any quiet time with such a large family, but Joseph—one of the 12—did. Some would think that it all began with the dreams he had—pictures of how his whole family would bow down before him. But I think it began even before that point—he must have had a heart that was attuned to God and His will, and that must have been nurtured in the times he spent alone before God. A.W. Tozer put it this way—"There are some things that you and I will never learn when others are present. I believe in church and I love the fellowship of the assembly, but God wants us alone, too. Unquestionably, part of our failure today is religious activity that is not preceded by aloneness and inactivity—getting alone with God and waiting in silence and quietness until we are charged with God's Holy Spirit. Then, when we act, our activity really amounts to something, because we have been prepared by God for it." Oh, how that time with the Lord is needed today! Wherever we go these days we are assaulted with sensory overload. In the stores, TVs distract, PA systems blare, and racket is everywhere. While traveling, pounding speakers deafen, and cell phones and Ipods are taking whatever attention we have left. Even in the home, the last vestige of sanity, high-definition TVs, computers, and gaming machines quickly make hearing from the Lord virtually impossible. But is it? If anyone had the right to complain about his circumstances and the overload to his senses, it would be Joseph—but he does nothing of the sort. All of the way through, we see the Lord providing him with those quiet times with Him, for which Joseph was glad. When his brothers, fed up with his dreams, threw him into a pit and later sold him to a passing caravan, he may have felt as though he hit rock bottom. But even in the bottom of that pit, he was given a refuge in which to listen for the will of the Lord for his life. Remember—Someone once wrote, "Man's extremity is God's opportunity!" Once in Egypt, the merchants sold him as a slave to Potiphar, Pharaoh's captain of the guard. The Scripture tells us, "And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man…and his master saw that the Lord was with him…and Joseph found grace in his sight." (39:2,3,4) When Joseph was falsely accused of trying to seduce Potiphar's wife, he was thrown into prison. We are then told, "But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison." (39:21) He would spend the next two years in jail, having done nothing wrong. Most people today, having similar circumstances, would be enraged at the injustice, but Joseph, I'm sure, spent much of the time alone with the Lord, becoming more and more prepared for what God was about to do. Having interpreted dreams while in prison, Joseph was called upon by Pharaoh when he needed to know the meaning of his own dream. In the end, Joseph, following the Lord's leading, saved the day. He was immediately put in charge of all of the food in Egypt—answering only to Pharaoh himself. So, why is that something God even cares about? Well, when a massive famine hit, Joseph held the key to survival—even for Jacob and the entire family—the very family that would eventually produce Jesus. Praise God! But before we throw our hats in the air and cheer for the savior Joseph, there is still a major hurdle. When all of his brothers come down to buy food, it would be Joseph who would have to deal with them. Many people, facing a similar dilemma, would bounce the fiends right out of there and bask in the glow of revenge. After all, these guys don't deserve to be forgiven! So? Who does? You didn't! I didn't! Lisa didn't! Forgiveness was purchased at Calvary 2,000 years ago, but how many will repent and receive it by faith? These brothers needed to know their need first, so Joseph, in love, proceeds to make them jump a few hurdles. It is not revenge; it is the mercy of God! When he first met them, he quite roughly accused them of being spies, to which they responded, "We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies." (42:11) True men? In the Hebrew, this "true" means to be upright and just, and Joseph knew they were anything but that! Since years had passed and they didn't recognize him, Joseph proceeded to put them through a series of "maneuvers" that would help them to search their own souls and see their sin. When he sent them back home to get the youngest brother Benjamin, keeping brother Simeon as a hostage, Joseph "turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them." (42:24a) Later, when they eventually brought Benjamin into Joseph's presence, he "made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there. And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread." (43:30,31) And, indeed, the bread was set—the bread of life, even Jesus Christ Himself, was set out for one and all. Undoubtedly, in both instances, the Lord used those quiet times to keep him going God's way. In the end, when Joseph finally revealed himself to his brothers, he made it quite clear that what they had done was wrong. But he also told them "God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance…ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good." (45:7; 50:20) He, of course, was not saying that their sin was OK, but that God is greater. Oh, is He greater! Even in the midst of some very difficult situations, the Lord—very quietly and powerfully—planted a forgiving heart in Joseph. After he hugged his youngest brother Benjamin and cried his heart out, "…he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them." (45:15) Even after all they had done, the love of Christ—the Son of God—compelled him, as he sat quietly before the Lord, to forgive them. "Kiss the Son," the Psalmist said—and that attachment and connection to the Lord will very quietly and surely give us hearts filled with love and forgiveness. It will prepare us, as it did Joseph, for the real test of being true men—forgiveness. To show how crucial it is, Jesus even said, "…if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Mt. 6:15) Praise God for Number 491—not a check mark, but a Cross, and the reality of "Forgiven, Forever" written across the pages of our lives in the most precious red blood ever! Don't be stubborn—Kiss the Son, worship Him, receive Him, live in Him! Be forgiven, forever! Copyright (c)
2005 Christ Our Rock Bible Church. |
