June 4

Free Forgiveness

When they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. — Luke 7:42

All of us are in debt. Of course there is a difference in the amount of our debts. Some have sinned far more than others. But whether our debt be little or much, we have nothing at all with which to pay it. We could not more easily pay the fifty than the five hundred pence. He forgave them both. It is just as easy for God to forgive the greatest sins as the smallest. He forgave them. That is the only way we can ever get clear of our sins.

A king owed a large sum to one of his nobles, but could not pay it. The nobleman made a great feast in honour of his king. A fire or perfumed woods burned on the hearth. During the feast the host brought out all he king’s notes and cast them into the fire, thus obliterating beyond possibility of restoration every evidence of his indebtedness. That is the way God does with our sins. Into the fragrant flames of Christ’s sacrifice he casts them all, and they will never be heard of more.

There is a story of a half-witted boy whose idea of forgiveness was beautiful. He said that Jesus came and with his red hand rubbed out all his sins. A quaint man used to carry a little book, which he took very often from his pocket, and which he called his “biography.” It had only three leaves, and there was not a word written on any of them; yet he said the book told the whole story of his life. The first leaf was black: that was his sin; that was his condition by nature. He would shudder when he looked at it. The second was red: that was the blood or Christ; and his face glowed when he gazed upon it. The third was white: that was himself washed in Christ’s blood, made whiter than snow. His book told the whole story of every redeemed life. Between the black of our sins and the white of redemption must always come the red of Christ’s blood.