Daily Reflections on Mt. 6:12-15 (Forgiving)

My wife roused me from my sleep. It had been a late elders' meeting the night before. I had crawled into bed sometime after 2:00 a.m.. "A plane just hit one of the trade towers," she said. I climbed out of bed in time to witness the second plane fly into the towers. It's a day I'll never forget. Like the Challenger explosion, I'll always know exactly where I was when I heard the news.

Over 3,000 were killed in a horrendous act of hatred and violence. Emotions that ranged from fear, to anger, to horror, to shock, to sorrow, to hatred erupted across the country. Weeks later when the invasion of Afghanistan was announced, there was a cheer that went up in the 15 passenger van I was driving. Every college student were excited that we were exacting vengeance.

The last six years has continued to evoke a mixture of emotions. For some, hatred has continue or even grown. For some, sorrow has grown. For some, fear has grown. 9/11 has changed the world.

As tragic and horrible as 9/11 was, it's not the only cause for hatred. People are wronged, hurt, and abused everyday. 9/11's happen, where people's lives are devastated at the hands of someone else, all around us, may be even to us. Hatred and bitterness abound. But hatred and bitterness can be even more devastating when allowed to grow and fester. Hanging onto the pain always hurts us more than the offender.

Jesus, here in His message for contented/fulfilled living, says forgiveness is essential to experience freedom and victory. Seeking retribution, getting even, doesn't bring satisfaction, nor does it bring us closer to God. Jesus also said our forgiveness by God is dependent upon our forgiveness of others. It's not that God is unwilling to forgive us. It's impossible for us to experience God's grace when our heart is hardened.

God, you forgave me while I was an offender, sinner, enemy. Thanks for your grace. Allow me to offer grace, mercy and forgiveness to others.

Daily Reflections on Heb. 12:1-3 (Entanglements)

I'm a sprinter. Well, I was a sprinter. Those days are long past. Our high school track uniforms consisted of a sleeveless muscle/under type shirts, skimpy, extra short, silky running shorts, and track shoes with no socks. Our warm ups were a heavy, shiny, nylon material with a long sleeve zipper top and an elastic, draw string bottom with a zipper at the ankle. We'd always warm up in the sweats before a race with a multitude of stretching exercises, calesthentics and some easy jogging. We were instructed to leave our sweats on until right before we ran our event, even if the temps were in the 80's or above.

One of my teamates and I were preparing for a race. We set our starting blocks. Tried a couple starts. Those heavy sweats were always cumbersome and must have added 10-20 lbs. When you took them off, you felt so light and free, like stepping out of a shower. To be honest, you felt like you were wearing nothing but your track shoes.

As my teamate and I returned to the starting line, we took off our warm ups. I looked over at him and he was standing in front of his starting blocks in shirt, shoes and athletic supporter. No shorts! He was totally unaware that when he had removed those heavy, bulky sweats, that his thin, silky running shorts had gone with them. It reminded me of the first olympics when contestents competed in the buff. Now thats getting rid of entanglements.

A lot of us are carrying a lot of extra weight. I don't mean just lbs. I mean entanglements, things that hold us back, that keep us from running the race of life light o'foot. It might be a relationship gone awry or one that's inappropriate. It might be a hurt or a grudge or even a health issue. It might be an obsession or some worldly goal. Many things hold us back, including sin.

As a sprinter, I was taught to give everything I've got from the starting gun; to run with my eyes focused on the finishing tape. If I looked to the side at a competitor or even at the ground to watch my lane markers, I would lose time and speed and probably the race. That's why the Hebrew writer says to fix your eyes on Jesus. He's standing in your lane at the finish line. The stands are filled with all the saints gone by rooting you on to victory.

You're stumbling down the track. Isn't time to take off your entanglements? Take off the heavy sweats. The feeling of freedom is exhilirating. You experience a freshness that comes from the breeze of God's Holy Spirit. Your burden is lifted. Now you can run with the lightness of a feather, with speed you've never experienced before.

God, a lot of things create entanglements in my life. The daily routines and responsibilities, the pressures, my poor decisions and wrong pursuits are heavy and tripping and distracting. Help me keep my eyes on Jesus as I run my race. Keep me mindful of the saints in the stands who are watching me and chearing for me. Help me disrobe those entanglements, get rid of the bulky sweats so I can really run.