|
As
Do I
A
young employee secretly misappropriated several
hundred dollars of his business firm's money. When
this action was discovered, the young man was told to
report to the office of the senior partner of the
firm. As he walked up the stairs toward the
administrative office the young employee was
heavyhearted. He knew without a doubt he would lose
his position with the firm. He also feared the
possibility of legal action taken against him.
Seemingly his whole world had collapsed.
Upon
his arrival in the office of the senior executive, the
young man was questioned about the whole affair. He
was asked if the allegations were true, and he
answered in the affirmative. Then the executive
surprisingly asked this question: “If I
keep you in your present capacity, can I trust you in
the future?”
The
young worker brightened up and said, “Yes, sir, you
surely can. I've learned my lesson.”
The executive responded, “I'm not going
to press charges, and you can continue in your present
responsibility.”
The
employer concluded the conversation with his younger
employee by saying,
“I think you ought to know, however, that you are
the second man in this firm who succumbed to
temptation and was shown leniency. I was the
first! What you have done, I did. The
mercy you are receiving, I received. It is only the
grace of God that
can keep us both.” *
You
need forgiveness, as do I...
“As it is written, ‘There is none
righteous, no, not one.
For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God” (Romans 3:10, 23).
“It
is only the grace of God that can keep us both...”
God has extended His grace to us through
the gift of His Son who died on the cross for our sins
(Titus 2:11; Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Corinthians 8:9).
We accept His grace through an obedient faith:
believing in Him (Acts 16:30-31), repentance
of sin (Acts 17:30-31), confessing
Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and being baptized
(immersed) in His name for the forgiveness of sins
(Acts 2:38; 22:16).
Once
we have been forgiven of our sins, we need to be
forgiving of others! Jesus said, "For if you
forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men
their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive
your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15).
Have
YOU been forgiven?
Have you also been forgiving?
David
A. Sargent,
Minister
Church
of Christ at Creekwood
1901
Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
* Don
Mallough, Crowded Detours
– in James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited
(Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988), p.
347.
To
Subscribe to "Living Water"
send a blank e-mail to:
HTML version: subscribe-livingwater@lyris.dundee.net
TEXT version: subscribe-livingwater-text@lyris.dundee.net
Follow
this link to locate the church of Christ nearest you: www.churchzip.com
Archived issues of "Living Water" can be accessed from our website
at: www.creekwoodcc.org
|
