He was a wild man in college. No boundaries. No discipline. No limits. His parents paid for most of his party lifestyle without ever knowing about it. He only worked a little, but most of the money came from good ol' mom and dad.

One thing this young rebel didn't realize was that a tab was being tallied. Each expense, each bill, each plea for money was being documented. His mom and dad kept track of it all.

When the son eventually graduated college, the debt was over $68,000. The parents showed the bill to the son. "Please start paying it back now that you are working full time."

The son was shocked. Not only had he spent so much money, he also had taken his parents for granted. He threw around their hard-earned money without any regard to value.

Later, the son wrote a letter to father. "I am sorry for taking advantage of you. Please forgive my ignorance. Please forgive me for being so thoughtless."

"I forgive you son," responded the dad. "But you still need to pay me back."

I share this story for one reason: the father's response is a vivid contrast of how our Father in heaven responds to our request for forgiveness. Did the father of that rebellious son forgive him? Yes. Did he release him from this debt? No.

God is different. God's grace goes beyond forgiveness. He not only forgives us--he releases us from the debt against us. He does not require that we pay him back when we seek his forgiveness through Jesus. His forgiveness is complete. What a wonderful gift! What wonderful grace!

"For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more" (Hebrews 8:12).

Blessings!

Russell

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|  Russell Pond     <><
|  Season of Peace
|  email:  ponder@season.org
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© Russell Pond 1999
Reprinted with permission