Greetings Dear Reader,
I think that we often miss when Jesus is being funny. An example would be when there are 5000 hungry
people and Andrew tells him about it.
Jesus asks what is available.
Andrew replies that there is a boy with five loaves of bread and two
fish. Jesus says that is just fine and
to sit everyone down to eat. Take a moment
to see the humor in this.
I think we also miss the humor in Jesus’ conversation with
Peter about forgiveness. When we read
the dialogue, we read it in our serious Jesus Bible voice. We fail to see the humanity in Christ when he
is talking. I picture Jesus smiling at
Peter and saying, “you need to forgive him seventy times seven,” and then
watching as Peter does the math in his head.
Jesus goes on to explain the vital nature of forgiveness. He also makes it clear that the math is not what
we should be concerned about. He does
not intend for us to keep a tally of wrongs done to us by others and forgiven
by us so that we can look forward to them hitting number 491. He wishes for us to forgive others in a never-ending
stream of love, grace, and mercy.
The habit of forgiving, because it should be a habit, is
provisioned by aligning our thinking with that of the Father. His grace and mercy allow forgiveness to flow
from him to us in copious amounts. The very
existence of the world depends on the Father’s forgiveness in every
moment. He desires for us to be the same
way.
We are to allow forgiveness to flow through us to others in
a spirit of humility and kindness. We stand
on our foundation of love and we flood the world with forgiveness. We become difficult to offend and easy to be
around when we adopt this stance. Our
burdens are much lighter and following Christ becomes easier Dear Reader.
Remember that Jesus connects forgiveness from the Father
with our forgiveness with others.
Failure to do the latter results in difficulties in the former. We are not earning forgiveness by
forgiving. We are, however, walking in
the grace and humility required to follow Christ. So, Dear Reader, I will never know if you
reach number 490 because I am not going to keep count. In case you were wondering, I have already
forgiven you.
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every
writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a
homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure
store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Contacts for Aramis
Thorn:
Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com
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