In Place!

Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. Colossians 3:13 MSG

There are times you read God's Word and you wonder if what he commands is possible this side of heaven. Please read again what today's extract commands: 'be content with second place'. Everywhere you turn to, being first is highly regarded and rewarded. Coming out on top is seen as the pinnacle of achievement. Every other position is treated as inferior.

You then wonder just how anyone can be content with second place. I live in a world where what you get is a function of how high I can jump, how fast I can run, or how much I can outsmart the other person. For a child of God, the priorities and pursuits must be different. God tells me to place someone else's interests over and above my own, and be quick to forgive an offence. What this tells me is that God will judge me based on my obedience to his command, not by the other person's response to me. People keep malice with each other over very ephemeral and temporary things, mortgaging their eternal futures over emotional baggage.

The perfect example has been given, with Jesus himself pronouncing forgiveness even for those who hurt him by nailing him to a cross. Stephen didn't utter an unkind word, as he was being stoned to death. I cannot lay claim to knowing God if my life's pattern and direction do not align with his commands. If I have received absolute mercy, the best I can do is extend the same mercy to other people.

And of course, the question arises from today's extract: can I forgive, yet not completely? Can I truly stand before God today, and say with every measure of certainty, that I have dealt with everyone the way He has dealt with me? Think carefully on your response; your eternal home is tied to it. His time of favour is here.