I was reading about how Moses and God responded to the grumbling of the Israelites. After the twelve spies came back from sniffing around Canaan, only two of the spies said, “It’s all good. Let’s go!” The other ten said, “Yeah, it’s good, but there are too many giants for us to be successful.” These ten were able to persuade all of the Israelites to say to Moses, “We don’t want to go any further with you. Take us back to Egypt!”
God spoke out and said, “Stand aside, Moses. I’m going to destroy all of these ungrateful, rebellious people and begin again with you.”
But Moses stepped forward to intervene. He reminded God that He was slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.
And then comes this amazing response from God: “I have forgiven them, as you have asked.”
Did you catch that?
The depth of forgiveness was exactly as Moses had asked!
Forgiveness doesn’t mean that the consequences for sin are removed. God said, “I have forgiven them, nevertheless they are still not going to be able to enter the Promised Land.”
Being forgiven doesn’t mean going unpunished. There is a price to be paid. But forgiveness means the price is only paid here on earth, not over an eternity.
How liberally and deeply and completely do YOU want to be forgiven? Whatever that level is, ask God to just as liberally and deeply and completely forgive OTHERS. Hear Him say, “I have forgiven them, just as you have asked.”
Craig T. Owens 