Day 82

Memorize: Response of ten lepers Luke 17

Key Verses: 2, 10, 18, 21, 24, 33, 37

One thing is for certain, we don’t want to be responsible for someone else’s fall. We need to work to forgive others. And I mean work to forgive. We are allowed to hold people accountable for their actions, but if they repent, we are responsible to forgive them. This is hard. Remember, forgiving is not the same a forgetting. When we forgive we agree not to throw it in their face. Forgetting would mean we offer them the knife with our back turned. Forgiving means every argument doesn’t end by bringing up the past. Forgetting would turn us into a doormat.

We must remember that we are servants who have been forgiven ourselves. Our job is to forgive. That is the minimum required. We don’t get special commendation when we forgive. That is what servants do. We do our job. And then we express thanks for that forgiveness, like the one leper who returned in praise. What Jesus points to is the fact that non-Jews are accepting His message, but the religious leaders are not. The non-Jews are being forgiven.

Forgiveness is an inside deal. It is something that happens between us and the Lord. People can’t see forgiveness directly. It can only be seen in our actions. So it is with God’s Kingdom. Until Jesus returns, God’s Kingdom is an internal thing, something that happens inside people. When Jesus returns, at that moment it will be visible. If we are not watching for His return, we will be taken by surprise. Noah and Lot both were watching for God’s arrival in judgment, so they were not taken by surprise. Others were.

Jesus’ return will be visible, just like you can tell when there is a dead animal in the wilderness. You can see the birds circling above in anticipation of a meal. So we must have our priorities set correctly. Lot’s wife turned back to look at the city. Her disobedience led to her death. Nothing in this world is worth turning back for. It is all temporary, transient, tempting. We need to be watching and aware of our spiritual surroundings so that we don’t get lured into thinking this world offers the answer to our problems. Only Christ has permanent answers.