The last three months I have been working hard on the sequel to "The Amazing Adventures of Toby the Trilby." Of course I don't plan to leave him out in that field! Many great new adventures are in store for the boy with a cat tail and ears, I promise.
While the first book was about God's unrelenting love for all of us, my second book will be exploring forgiveness, and the verse found in Matthew 18:22 "Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him,
"I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven."
What strikes me most about this verse is it's simplicity. Jesus didn't say, "Well, Peter, you really only need to forgive if the person who hurt you is sorry," or "You only have to forgive certain things, not the big, horrible things." No, he simply said "forgive." The beauty of this forgiveness is found in the Lord' Prayer, " Forgive us our debts, as we forgive those who trespass against us." We expect full and perfect forgiveness from God. We certainly don't want Him holding things from our past over our heads. We don't want those things blocking our relationship with Him. So why do we feel justified to hold onto the hurts other people have caused us?
So, woven into the simple story of Toby's new adventures will be a message I hope children, and adults can take to heart. The message to forgive, even if someone doesn't deserve it. Only then can we truly be free.
While the first book was about God's unrelenting love for all of us, my second book will be exploring forgiveness, and the verse found in Matthew 18:22 "Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him,
"I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven."
What strikes me most about this verse is it's simplicity. Jesus didn't say, "Well, Peter, you really only need to forgive if the person who hurt you is sorry," or "You only have to forgive certain things, not the big, horrible things." No, he simply said "forgive." The beauty of this forgiveness is found in the Lord' Prayer, " Forgive us our debts, as we forgive those who trespass against us." We expect full and perfect forgiveness from God. We certainly don't want Him holding things from our past over our heads. We don't want those things blocking our relationship with Him. So why do we feel justified to hold onto the hurts other people have caused us?
So, woven into the simple story of Toby's new adventures will be a message I hope children, and adults can take to heart. The message to forgive, even if someone doesn't deserve it. Only then can we truly be free.