The Glory Of Forgiveness

The Theft

Back in late 2002 to early 2003, I had bought a severely fire damaged house from a guy. It was a wreck and I got it for next to nothing but it needed a ton of work done on it. I worked on it for several years but the first year I spent gutting out what was left of the interior and rebuilding and adding on to it. I use to leave my tools there locked in the house because it was a hassle picking them up every day. I only lived a mile away.

One morning I got there and there was a broken basement window and, upon entering, I found a whole bunch of my power tools missing. On top of that I found that my digital camera I had put in the desk I kept there was missing as well. I was devastated. Some of you know that helpless, frustrated feeling you get when you've been the victim of a robbery.

I called the police and they sent out an investigator who did the usual taking of fingerprints, etc but he said the guy was good at it cause it was all carefully wiped clean. While he was doing his thing, I went outside and I found a muddy shoe/boot print on a piece of construction paper on the ground and I took it in cause it wasn't mine. The inspector said that was not a common type of shoe but was a rather expensive certain brand of hiking boot. He took photos of it and told me that it was unlikely they would find out who did it.

After he left I got an attitude in me like, "I'm gonna save this boot print and I am going to catch this guy!" I was angry and frustrated. So, I kept that boot print with me all the time thinking I am going to nail this guy when I find the boot that fits this print. It was over a thousand dollars of tools, the camera, not to mention I had to replace the window that was broken. I couldn't afford that. It took over 3 months to replace those tools. My neighbor did tell me later that he saw a guy walking down the street with a cardboard box that I was missing and that he was struggling to carry it. Nothing ever really came of it but I kept that boot print with me just in case.

The Mercy of God

Late one day towards evening after working on the house all day I was driving home and was stopped at a stop sign when the Holy Spirit spoke into my heart to go to Taco Bell. Well I was tired and I really didn't WANT to go to Taco Bell. I just wanted to go home and relax. Well some of you know how that goes. I really couldn't leave that stop sign until I somewhat grudgingly said "yes." It was only a few blocks out of my way. No big deal right? As I arrived there and was walking to the entrance, He spoke again to me clear as a bell, "Buy two meals." Well, by then I was a little more cooperative so I went in and did just that.

So I sat down at a table wondering about all this and started to eat my meal. There was a young guy sitting across the aisle and down the way a bit and somehow we ended up in a conversation. That was awkward at a distance so I invited him over to my table to continue the conversation (which quickly and effortlessly turned to being about Jesus). I could tell he was hungry so I told him God had nudged me to buy two meals so it was pretty obvious it was for him.

There is something about receiving the mercy of God that if we "don't forget what manner of man we were," we end up carrying the mercy of God for others in us. He had a pretty good christian background but he confessed that he was struggling with falling back into a drug addiction. We had a great time talking and their was such a bond forming there. God's love poured out among us is an incredible thing. It never ceases to amaze me.

The Thief

After a while I noticed that we had been there for over an hour so I told him, "Wow, we should go outside to make room for other customers." When we got outside, we were standing there talking and I told him how my house had gotten ripped of a bunch of tools. While telling him that, the Lord spoke to me to give him $20.00 so I pulled out a twenty and told him what came to my mind. After having such wonderful fellowship and seeing him perk up and be encouraged so much, I was surprised that he suddenly looked so very sad and uncomfortable. He was practically stuttering saying, "I-I-I can't take that money". At that point he looked like he was going to burst into tears. Then, out of nervousness I guess he lifted up his leg to scratch his shin with his boot facing me and there was that boot print I'd saved all those weeks right there on the bottom of his boot.

He was so devastated. That's what drug addiction can do to you. You end up doing things you wouldn't even imagine doing normally. And he was so sorry and I could see that sorrow went deep inside him. And then an amazing thing happened inside me. I knew that God had help me find "that thief" but now I also knew that "thief" was my struggling brother in the Lord. I reached out and squeezed his shoulder and put that 20.00 bill in his pocket, gave him a big comforting hug. "I love you brother..."

I walked away from that meeting with a million dollars worth of God's love coursing through my veins and he walked away knowing that God knows all he was going through and was really there not condemning him but walking with him... I used to tell other brothers in the Lord about that story for quite a long time after that and the biggest smile would come to my heart as I would tell them,

"That is the best thousand bucks I have ever spent!"

God's Glory Revealed In His Forgiveness

See Jesus spent a whole lot more than that to purchase the forgiveness of God in our lives. He shed his own blood and died for us so we could be reconciled to God.

"I came not to condemn the world but to save it."
"All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."
"While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
"Christ died for ALL sin, for ALL men, for ALL time."

Is there any part of "ALL" that we don't understand???

Are you SURE?????