Justin Paul (from WAY-FM) was scrolling through his Facebook feed when he saw an old friend was back in prison. What happened in that moment changed the way he sees giving grace and dealing out judgment calls.
Read (from the New Living Translation)
Jesus is holy and can make a judgment call if we continue to reject Him. But He’s also ready to give every ounce of grace, forgiveness, and love that we may need. We just have to accept this gift from Him. How long will Jesus wait for you?
Luke 13:6-9
Then Jesus told this story: “A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’
“The gardener answered, ‘Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.’”
Note: If you’ve read the Bible before, you may notice there are no chapter or verse marks in today’s reading. We got this idea from the Immerse Bible. They’ve taken the entire story of Jesus and stripped it of all distractions – this way it’s a more relaxed read. Like you’re reading a beautiful story. You should check it out!
I’ve learned that thankfully God is a God of multiple chances; however, society and sometimes family and friends aren’t. They judge you by making using your sins (poor choices-mistakes-wrong doings) as a way of viewing you as unworthy of their love, forgiveness and grace and cast you away from them because of the way they rank sin (some greater than others) when in God’s eyes there is no degree of sin. It is scriptural to extend grace, love and forgiveness to all who sin even those who sin against you and we are to walk beside those who need support… Read more »