Hooked

Hooked

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"For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins," Matthew 6:14-15, NIV.

"Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive," Colossians 3:13, NIV.

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you," Ephesians 4:31-32, NIV.

Forgiveness—we desire it for ourselves but are very stingy giving it away. Even when we know if we hold onto it, our Heavenly Father will hold it back from us! So, we say the words in front of others, “I forgive you,” but our hearts are rebellious against such declarations.

Does it count? Is that true forgiveness? Just saying words in the air that land on someone’s eardrums isn’t forgiveness.

Forgiveness is letting them off of the judgment hook.

For those of us who are visual learners, picture a giant fisherman’s hook, like one used to catch deep sea fish, descending from heaven. On this hook you see someone who has hurt you. They deserve to be on that hook, actually, for they have sinned against God and hurt one of His children.

Now picture that hook straightened out into a needle. What happens to the person on the hook? They slide off. You literally “let them off the hook.” That’s forgiveness. Choosing to let someone off the hook gives them another chance to finally get it right.

That’s what God has done for us.

Now picture that same hook, and you are dangling from it. God can let you off, or keep you hooked. He desires to let you off. Jesus died and rose from the dead for such a moment as this. But He waits to see your heart. Has it really been transformed by His blood? Has it surrendered all to God willing, and ready to obey?

If so, both hooks, one where someone who has hurt you hangs, and God’s hook, where we hang because we hurt God; these two hooks should look like needles. A straight shaft where both easily slip off. Either both hooks are straight, symbolizing forgiveness, or they are hooked, symbolizing unforgiveness.

Letting someone off your hook is a measurement of your understanding of God’s gift of mercy.

Whether it’s someone from your past, long forgotten, yet they creep into memory from time to time; or it’s someone near and dear to you, we all need to forgive.

Picture straightening your hook. Where do they fall? They fall into the hands of Jesus, who is the One qualified to offer eternal forgiveness or eternal condemnation. That’s Jesus’ right, privilege and duty, not ours.

Are you able to straighten your hooks today? Can you forgive as Jesus forgave us?

Father,

When we submit our lives to You, and surrender all, part of our surrender is to agree to do what You have asked us to do. Today, it’s learning how to forgive others and it’s challenging. We need Your help to fully forgive those who have hurt us.

I want to be like Stephen when the Pharisees stoned him, he said,

“59 As Stephen was being stoned to death, he called out, “Lord Jesus, please welcome me!” 60 He knelt down and shouted, “Lord, don't blame them for what they have done.” Then he died, Acts 7:59-60, NIV.

Help me to have this heart, not to blame others for their actions towards me or my loved ones. Somedays I see straight needles, other days, those hooks start to form again. Help me to forgive, as You have forgiven me.

Thank You for all You have done and continue to do, to keep us "citizen" worthy.

We love You,

Amen.