East to West

 

Last week I wrote about David instructing his soul to worship God. Now I would like to point out a different thought from that same psalm (103). I absolutely love that David wrote, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us (v.12).” 

 

This is a wonderful thought about God’s forgiveness. He has removed our sin from us if we have put our trust in Him. The idea of removing sin was borrowed from levitical language. In Leviticus 16 Aaron was instructed to take a young goat and symbolically transfer the sins of the nation to the kid by laying his hands upon its head. The goat was then bearing the sins of Israel, as it was sent off into the wilderness, never to be seen again. That gesture was God’s way of demonstrating that the people would not have to bear their own sin if they called upon Him. 

 

David only had an elementary understanding of forgiveness, however. The king was grateful that God would remove his sin and send it off into the wilderness, but that didn’t fully satisfy sin’s demands. It was not until Jesus went to the cross as the Lamb of God that sin could finally be once and for all dealt with. Instead of symbolically putting our sin on the scapegoat, God put our sin on His Son. In this way, our sin can be forever removed from us.

 

How far away is our sin sent? David said it is as far away as the east is from the west. According to author Max Lucado, east and west become farther away from each other as one travels. If you leave your house and head east, you can spend the rest of your life going east, and with every step, west becomes farther away from your starting point. The same is true for the person heading west. However, that is not true for the person heading north or south. If you leave your house and head north, you will eventually reach the North Pole, and then you are automatically going south; if you head south, you will eventually reach the South Pole and then be heading north. 

 

North and south are only separated by just over 12,440 miles; that is the distance between the Poles. But east and west have no such dimensions. If they did, Satan could pack a lunch and a GPS, track down our sin, and bring it back to us. That is now impossible because God put our sin on the back of Jesus, and He has carried it away as far as the east is from the west.    

 

A Second Chance

When Thomas Edison was working on his invention of the light bulb, I read that the finished product required a team of men to work twenty-four consecutive hours to assemble the first bulb. When they were finished Edison handed the bulb off to a young man who was told to carry it upstairs. That poor man nervously cradled the bulb like it was a premature infant, so worried that he would drop it. And that is exactly what he did. The bulb shattered in a million pieces. 

The crew went right back to work, and twenty-four hours later they completed the second light bulb. Who do you think Edison entrusted to carry the bulb upstairs? He handed it off to that same young man who had already destroyed their first bulb, but this time that assistant successfully carried the bulb up the stairs. Sometimes we all could use a second chance. 

That truth is one of my favorite aspects of the ministry of the prophet Jonah. It is widely known that he was called by God to go to the great city of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire. The city’s magnificence was rivaled only by its wickedness. We can’t blame Jonah for not wanting to go; archaeological evidence shows us that the Ninevites, led by their cruel king Ashurbanipal, impaled prisoners of war and left them to die in the sun; they beheaded victims and stacked their skulls outside the city gates as a warning to would-be invaders; they skinned people alive; and Nahum tells us they even practiced infanticide by throwing unwanted babies into the streets. Jonah didn’t want to go because he didn’t think people like that deserved God’s mercy and forgiveness. 

So Jonah decided not to go to Nineveh. He chose Tarshish as his destination, but he never arrived there. You know the story: God sends a storm, the pagan sailors decide the gods must be punishing them, they throw Jonah overboard, and he is swallowed by a special fish, only to repent and be regurgitated on dry land. 

Armed with a second chance, the prophet commits to keep his vow (2:9), and this time he gets it right (minus the bad attitude, but that is another topic). Because of Jonah’s preaching, more than 120,000 people repent of their unspeakable wickedness and God spared the city for another century. 

Do you always get it right the first time? Me neither. I’m thankful for a God who gives second chances (and third chances!). If you are in the middle of doing something wrong right now, repent of it and ask the Lord for a second chance and a fresh start. But don’t miss the real theme of Jonah: “Salvation belongs to the Lord (2:9).” 

Jonah didn’t want to take the gospel to people he thought were undeserving of mercy, yet when he was in the fish’s belly, mercy is what he prayed for. We don’t deserve mercy, but we receive it. Don’t make the mistake of thinking God shouldn’t extend that same undeserved mercy to those we might deem as being too wicked, but share the good news with those who need to hear it most.

The Silent Treatment

There was a couple that had a bitter argument that resulted in them both giving each other the silent treatment. After two full days of not talking to each other, the man knew he needed his wife’s help. He had a business meeting, and he needed to wake up early to catch a flight to Chicago. Not wanting to be the one to break the silence, he wrote his wife a note that said, “Please wake me up at 5 AM.” The next morning when he woke up it was 9 AM, and his wife was up and about. Furious, he was about to go demand to know why she did not wake him, when he noticed the note beside his pillow that said, “Its 5 AM. Wake up.”

No marriage is perfect; for that matter, no relationship is perfect. There will always be arguments, fights, and conflicts, but the story above is a good example of why we should never let the sun go down on our wrath (Ephesians 4:26). When we put our problems off until another day, those problems often times become worse. Sweeping problems under the rug does not make them go away, it only allows them to fester beneath the surface, making the eventual cleanup harder than if the mess had been dealt with right away.

If there is a person that you are currently at odds with, the best thing you can do is reach out to that person as soon as possible and try to mend the relationship. When people choose to live in conflict with others, they often times do not even remember what the original problem was; instead, they remember all the snide remarks and sideways looks that have come after the conflict began. If they had tried to repair the relationship sooner, there would not have been as much to deal with.

Fixing a relationship is important because we want to regain that brother or sister. It is wrong to think we can choose to not forgive, and then go about our business as if everything is ok. Jesus said it is a waste of time to offer a gift to the Lord if we have not tried to make restoration with that person. He said, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift (Matthew 5:24).” In other words, God is not interested with our acts of worship if we are not willing to first do our part to repair a relationship. If you haven’t felt close to God lately, maybe there is another relationship you need to work on so that your walk with God will improve.

Flat Tires

Now that spring has sprung it is time for us to engage in one of our annual traditions. My wife and I enjoy working on the landscaping around the front porch, so each year I take my truck to town and get a load of brown mulch to spread around the yard. This year we decided we wanted to raise the landscaping higher so it can be more visible from the road, so before I got the mulch I got a load of topsoil to add height.

I learned an important lesson: dirt weighs more than mulch. Much more, it turns out. Although I had been getting a “scoop” of mulch from Sanders for almost ten years without a problem, when the Bobcat dropped the scoop of topsoil into my truck the back end dropped much lower than I was expecting. The tires were rubbing against the wheel well, and I was only a couple miles from the store when one of my tires blew out.

I’m grateful that a friend saw me and helped me get the spare on, but the other rear tire was due for a similar fate. I slowly drove home, smelling burning rubber the whole way. As soon as I put the truck in park I heard the air rush out of the tire; it literally melted. At least I was home that time.

One solution to this problem would be to keep changing tires, but that is only a temporary fix. The only way to keep the tires from blowing out or melting is to get the weight off of them. Before I changed another tire I grabbed a shovel and wheelbarrow, and slowly but surely got the dirt out of the truck and into the yard. With the weight of the dirt off of the truck, I was able to get new tires on that will hopefully last a long time.

That thought reminded me of the character Christian from The Pilgrim’s Progress; he was carrying a heavy load on his back until he arrived at the cross, at which point he was able to lay his burden down. Our sin is like a ton of topsoil—it is more than we are meant to carry, and unless we get rid of it, it will continually bring us down. We look for relief from everything from programs to pills, but those are only temporary at best. At the end of the day, the dirt must be removed.

Let Jesus be like that wheelbarrow. Throw all the dirt on Him. Cast all your cares on Him. He is far better at bearing it than we are.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28

Old Grudges

Last week I wrote about President John Quincy Adams and the dismal perception he had of himself. That poor image was nothing compared to the disdain he held for his political rival, the man who cost him a second term in the White House, Andrew Jackson.

Upon hearing that his alma mater was going to confer an honorary degree upon Jackson in 1833, Adams wrote a scathing letter to the president of Harvard. In it he explained why he would not attend the ceremony: “As myself an affectionate child of our Alma Mater, I would not be present to witness her disgrace in conferring her highest literary honor upon a barbarian who could not write a sentence of grammar and hardly could spell his own name.”

Indeed, Jackson was an uneducated, orphaned Southern farmer; in his letters he would not only misspell a large number of his words, but he would frequently misspell the same word different ways in the same piece of correspondence. Be that as it may, Jackson proved to be a successful man, passing the bar exam and making good money as a lawyer in North Carolina, serving as Tennessee’s first member in the House of Representatives and later a senator, and was the first governor of Florida (prior to statehood); he was also a war hero, revered throughout the country for his successes as a general.

Adam’s criticism of Jackson shows that he was still holding a grudge three years after the election. Jackson may have been a “barbarian,” but he was a successful barbarian, and one that had defeated the educated Adams. Holding on to old grudges is not healthy, and it brings out the worst in us. It distorts our view and gives us a wrong perception of reality.

Beyond that, holding on to grudges is wrong because the Bible says it is. Paul told the Ephesian Christians, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:31-32).”

Being tenderhearted might not seem like a desired trait between two alpha males who just squared off in their second heated campaign in four years, but it is what God wants from us, and Jesus is our example. If you are holding on to a grudge, don’t be like President Adams; instead, take the advice from Queen Elsa and just let it go. It’s the best way to live.

The Cost of Forgiveness

What price would you be willing to pay to have your sins forgiven?

What if God promised to forgive you for your sins if you agreed to stand on your head for five minutes, then do ten jumping jacks? What if God required you to pay $10,000? Or $10,000,000? What if He asked you to give up your PlayStation, new car, or big house?

At what point would you walk away and say, “Thanks, but no thanks”?

God has actually put a price tag on forgiveness, but it is different than a lot of people think. In fact, after finding out God’s price, many walk away sorrowful, unwilling to make the payment.

In Luke 6:36 Jesus says to “be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” The imperative command to be merciful means to forgive, and the conjunction “even as” means in the same way. So Jesus is saying that we need to forgive each other in the same way that God forgives us.

When His disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, Jesus included the line, “and forgive us our debts (sins) as we forgive our debtors (Matthew 6:12).” The word “as” also means “how,” or “forgive us how (or in the same way) we forgive.”

Jesus is teaching us that our measure of forgiveness from God is dependent upon the measure with which we forgive.

In case you think I am stretching that verse, Jesus made Himself even plainer in the following verses. In Matthew 6:14-15 He plainly said, “For if you forgive men their trespasses your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive you.”

So what do you think? Is the price too high to pay to have your sins forgiven? What person in your life do you need to forgive today? Forgive them, then apologize to your Heavenly Father and ask for His forgiveness. 

Time of Trouble

When we get into trouble it is nice to have someone to turn to. Family and friends will always be there for us, but it is even better to know that we can turn to our Father. Psalm 46:1 says that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Then Psalm 86:7 says, “In the day of my trouble I will call upon Thee, for Thou wilt answer me.”

Often when people are at the end of their rope they will desperately cry out to the Lord for help; they have gotten themselves in a mess and they want God to fix everything. Fortunately God will forgive us as often as we repent, but the consequences are still there.

But why should we wait until the bottom falls out to seek the Lord? The psalmist mentioned turning to God in the times of trouble; perhaps you are struggling with a temptation. That is your time of trouble—talk to the High Priest who has already faced that temptation. Maybe your time of trouble is the thought that no one gets you—you have been stabbed in the back, betrayed, or rejected. Why not turn to the Son of God who was rejected in His hometown, mocked by His family, betrayed by His disciple, condemned by His people, and executed for the sins of His children?

Maybe your trouble is that you need forgiveness. That sin in your life separates you from the Lord right now and in the next life. If you are willing to repent and put your faith in Jesus Christ then He will save you and forgive your sins.

When you call out to Him in time of trouble, He will answer.