As I worked this week on an artist’s studio for my wife, I was to the framing stage of assigning window openings in the walls. A good friend of mine gave of his time to help me, which was a huge gift, as the walls were heavy to lift into place. Friday came and we finally got to stand the last wall, just as the daily heat hit. Just as we finished and I was showing him the old windows I was to use, I noticed they seemed much larger than the openings we made. Sure enough, in my haste and in the heat, I had made a mistake. As I dug in to fix the error, it occurred to me that we humans err every day, and we literally spend our lifetime trying to make amends for our mistakes.
None of us are without fault, or sin for that matter, yet we can all take comfort in knowing that each day, our Father’s forgiveness is poured onto us. He gave Moses the ten commandments for all humanity to follow, yet if the truth be told, they are almost impossible to follow to the letter. Unlike the days of the Old Testament, where the religious leaders of the day would never show mercy, the New Testament flips that on it’s ear. When Jesus came, He offered unabashed love, grace, and forgiveness for our shortcomings. He taught and showed all of us that our Father is a loving God. He gives us all the freedom of choice to believe in Him or not. We are to revere Him, rather than fear Him. That does not mean we are to run amok with our lives. What it does tell us is that He will be available in our daily live, all the days of our lives to help guide us to His arms and our days end. He knows that we will make mistakes every day, yet He forgives. He gives all of us the opportunity to accept Him, even to our dying breath. In that alone, there is ultimate forgiveness. Even those who mock Him or his followers will still have that last chance to repent. That is our Father’s forgiveness. He even tells us to forgive each other seven times seventy times if need be, knowing we are most likely to fail, yet He forgives.
You see it is in His forgiving nature and spirit that we are all worthy of His love. None of us are without fault, yet He practices what He preached. When we’re too weak to try, He does. When we’re too blind to see, He guides, and when we’re too stubborn to change, He waits. We’ve all heard about the patience of Job. Well I can imagine how much patience God has to put up with the mayhem and disobedience of the human race. His agape love for us is beyond understanding, yet we try. We err, then we repent. This is a lifelong journey on a road well travelled.
Our world will always want to keep us under thumb for every action. There always seems to be someone out there just waiting to pounce on us for a mistake. It could be our boss, our banker, our neighbour and even strangers. Heaven forbid we bump into someone’s vehicle or cut in a grocery line. To live our lives on guard every day is stressful, yet when we close in with Jesus we can separate ourselves from this. These days, if we followed His commandments, to love our neighbours as our selves, we would all find life easier. If we all just tried a little kindness, then our mistakes would be less frequent. Will we still make them? Yes, but I for one take comfort in knowing that God loves me so much that His helping of forgiveness is unending. Perhaps it will be nice to know that when we meet Him face to face that the greeting at the gates will be hugs rather than history.
Mike Shindruk
Master’s Hand Ministry
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