Forgiveness

Emo Phillips, a comedian said, "When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized that the Lord doesn’t work that way, so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me."

Forgivenesss.

Back in 1935, Fiorello La Guardia, Mayor of New York, visited a night court in the poorest ward of the city. He relieved the judge for the evening and took the bench himself. A case came up where a grandmother had been arrested for stealing bread to feed her grandchildren. La Guardia said, "You are guilty, and I have got to punish you. Ten dollars or ten days in jail."

And then LaGuardia himself pulled out a 10 dollar bill out of his pocket and threw it in his hat. And then he fined everybody in the courtroom for living in a city where grandmothers have to steal bread to feed their grandchildren. They passed the hat and that woman left the courthouse that evening.

She left not only with her fine totally paid, but with 47 dollars and 50 cents in her pocket.

Forgiveness.

Lewis B. Smedes, an author whose writings speak to me says, "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you."

During this Holy Week we are reminded of His forgiveness.

Forgiveness.

It will set you free, if you let it. Are you free or enslaved?

Just a thought.