Matthew 18:26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, 'Master,
have patience with me, and I will pay you all.'
Matthew 18:29 So his
fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged
him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.'
We know the parable. We know we are commanded to forgive. Yet, for far too many Christians, forgiveness is an option based on our feelings, the perception of our rights, or the repentance of the one who has violated us.
Here, in this parable, the servant who owed far more than he could ever repay begged for patience from his master and made a promise he couldn't keep - to repay his debt - all of it.
Verse 27 tells us that the master of the servant responded to his servant's plea for patience. He was moved with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt.
We read these words in verse 29 reflecting the servant's response to his fellow servant's plea - And he would not.
Is your heart so hardened to God's pleas to you to forgive a debt? That person owes you. That's what a debt is. Yet, God calls you to "let it go", to forgive the debt.
The plea of the fellow servant should have triggered in the servant a reminder that, only recently, he had used the very same words and he had received mercy. What was said in the sermon Sunday that should have been triggers to you? Did you ignore them? Or did you respond passing on just a piece of the forgiveness God has extended toward you?
Watch God's triggers. He intends for them to touch us in a way that we respond to Him.
