Christian Living
You Owe Me
Benjamin Stephens
The celestial kingdom has a record hall. In this record hall all the misdeeds (they call them sins) are recorded in a ledger for future reference. Billions of entries are posted daily.
Anytime the King wishes he can review the data although somehow He already knows what He will find. Every name has a full description of the misdeed and the applicable payment needed for the sin is inscribed – DEATH.
You see, the payment for sin requires a stiff payment, but the King knew this long before He made the first of human kind. The King’s Son chose to pay the penalty for the sins of mankind with His life. Oh, He didn’t stay ‘dead’, He defeated death. It was the very act of dying satisfied the penalty attached to sin.
Since that time men and women have submitted their request for pardon through the communications device known as prayer. Pardon is granted on the condition that the petitioner believe, accept and trust in the Penalty Payer. If thy do then the penalty is removed from the ledger anytime a request to do so is made.
Without this mechanism of ‘sin forgiveness’ the King would not be obligated to forgive any such penalty and could exact judgment at any time.
The record indicates that this king is all knowing, so He has the ability to remember every sin committed against His edicts. Yet, once the petition for forgiveness has been granted He refused to bring it up again.
Is He wanted, the King could be like a common businessman. The ledger would show that a payment is due and the businessman would send a bill that demands payment. Imagine if this King did this. At the end of the month you would receive an itemized list of your sins and the total price owed at the bottom of the page would indicate, “Penalty for this months sins will be exacted in the forfeiture of your life. Payment is expected on receipt of this notice.â€
However, the King set an example for His subjects to follow. Forgiveness would be one way others could tell the citizens of the celestial kingdom from other immigrants.
Yet, one day the King noticed a little man pouring over his own ledger as he recounted the various grievances he had against men and women who had wronged him. He vowed that payment needed to be made to repay him for the anguish he endured at the hands of the cruel citizens of his village.
Every month the little man would fill out a bill that listed the grievances and he would grit his teeth and say, “You owe me.†He never actually sent the bills, but he would pull them from a scrapbook he made specifically for the bills and fan the embers of pain into a roaring furnace of hatred.
The King was sad because He knew that the payment for misdeeds (He called them sin) was taken care of. Why couldn’t His people understand that the forgiveness He offered to one citizen was available to all others?
By being a loyal subject of the King it was the duty of His subjects to let everyone know that forgiveness was not only available it was free.
The King, however, often found subjects seeking to exact justice for what had already been paid.
Yes, He knew the sins of all His subjects, but He simply refused to let that knowledge interfere with his desire to call His subjects friends.
Aren’t you glad God does not open His book of sinful behavior and call out, “You owe me� How much would be enough in repaying God for our sins? The Bible indicates the answer is your life.
If God removes our sins from His ledger at our request, what right do we have to refuse forgiveness to those who may hurt us?
I believe our act of unforgiveness is in rebellion to His example and His ultimate plan for us.
Jesus told us the second greatest commandment is to love others. If we can’t forgive them we can’t love them.
When we refuse to forgive we are in direct rebellion to what God desires most from us.
Thank God He offered a way that made it possible for Him to relate to us in a way that doesn’t find Him holding up a list of our sins and saying, “You owe me.â€
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