Lent 2018
Lent is the 40 days before Easter, not including Sundays. It is a time set a part to give consideration to the 40 days Jesus spent fasting and being tested by satan in the desert before He began his ministry. Even Jesus set Himself apart for a time on several occasions to call on and be strengthen by God as an example to us that in our busy lives. We need focused time with God to live in this lost and broken world.
2-23-18
February 23rd
Don’t Put That Rock in Your Pocket
In the story of the adulteress and Jesus in John 8:3-11, a woman caught in the act of adultery is brought before Jesus. We all have heard the story: that Jesus faces her accusers and says : “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” John 8:7. Those who were accusing her left one by one, convicted by their own conscience. When Jesus was left alone with the woman after her accusers had left, He said to her: “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” John 8:10.
The penalty for adultery was death by stoning, so you can picture everyone there with a rock in their hand, except for the woman accused and Jesus. Have you ever thought about what they did with the rock? Did they drop it and move on? Or did they put it in their pocket to save for later?
When someone sins, whatever the sin, or if someone hurts us intentionally or out of ignorance – our natural response is to strike back or make them “pay” for what they did. Rather than forgive, we want to return the pain and suffering. Rather than let go, we cling to our rocks of resentment, our boulders of bitterness. What happens? We carry the weight of those rocks in our pockets, the boulders on our backs and shoulders, instead of forgiving. That weight can crush your spirit, your happiness, and they block your Blessings from Heaven. (1) Instead, drop your rocks at the feet of Jesus…and move on. Forgiveness is not just an option but a direct order from God. In Colossians 3:13, the Bible states: “Bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” NKJV. So you also must forgive. It doesn’t make whatever the sinner did OK. It allows you to release the pain of the sin to Jesus, release the bitterness and anger that you feel, and give the burden to the One who already took it to the cross. So the next time someone lashes out in anger, the next friend that betrays you, the next sin that Satan throws in your face…you can call it what is and renounce the sin, but forgive the sinner, (even if it is yourself), let it go… and drop your rock at the feet of Jesus.
- How to Forgive…When You Don’t Feel Like It, by June Hunt, 2007 Hope for the Heart Inc, Harvest House Publishers
Michelle Jordon
