[Faith-talk] Daily Thought for Friday, January 10, 2014

[Paul]

Well folks, here in eastern North America it's a Friday afternoon, whereas in your part of the world it may be morning or evening, or even a different day.  Whenever it is in your particular nation, I hope that, when you read this, that everything is going well, by God's matchless grace and His providential care.

I don't recall whether or not I've shared this with most of you before, but if I did I hope you will enjoy it the second time around.  The author of this piece is not given, but it was found in a compilation of stories called "More Stories For the Heart." The article in question is entitled "A Vision of Forgiveness," rendered as follows:

Have you ever felt the need for forgiveness, or perhaps the need to forgive?

I meet so many people who are paralyzed in their present circumstances because they're chained to something in their past.  They are either unable to forgive or to accept the fact that they are truly forgiven.

I once heard a legend of a priest in a small Midwestern parish who, as a young man, had committed what he felt was a terrible sin.  Although he had asked God's forgiveness, all his life he carried around the burden of this sin.  He just could not be sure God had really forgiven him.

One day he was told of an elderly woman in his congregation who sometimes had visions.  During these visions, he had heard, she would often have conversations with the Lord.  After a while the priest finally got up enough courage to visit this woman.

She invited him in and offered him a cup of tea.  Toward the end of his visit, he set his cup down on the table and looked into the woman's eyes.

"Is it true that sometimes you have visions?" he asked her.

"Yes," she replied.

"Is it also true that, during these visions, you often speak with the Lord?"

"Yes," she said again.

"Well, the next time you have a vision and speak with the Lord, would you ask Him a question for me?"

The woman looked at the priest a little curiously.  She had never been asked this before.  "Yes, I would be happy to," she answered.  "What do you want me to ask Him?"

"Well," the priest began, "would you please ask Him what sin it was that your priest committed as a young man?"

The woman, quite curious now, readily agreed.

A few weeks passed, and the priest again went to visit this woman.  After another cup of tea, he cautiously, timidly asked, "Have you had any visions lately?"

"Why, yes, I have," replied the woman.

"Did you speak with the Lord?"

"Yes."

"Did you ask Him what sin I committed as a young man?"

"Yes," the woman replied, "I did."

The priest, nervous and afraid, hesitated a moment and then asked, "Well, what did the Lord say?"

The woman looked up into the face of her priest and replied gently, "The Lord told me He could not remember."

God not only forgives our sins; He also chooses to forget them.  The Bible tells us He takes them and buries them in the deepest sea.  And then as Corrie Ten Boom used to say, "He puts up a sign that says, No fishing allowed."

Now I remember sharing this with most of you, but there are probably others new to these list who haven't read or heard this story before, so it is for everyone.  May the author of this article, by his/her written words, minister to your spirits today.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Lord willing, tomorrow there will be another daily thought message for you.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul