“Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt. “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full. “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.” Matthew 18:23-35 NIV
It is far too easy to forget the generosity of our heavenly Father. Famous tends not to forget the provisions I provide for him. Because he expects me to be generous and grant him daily meals, he instinctively respects me and shares his life with me.
A saying which comes to mind is “don’t bite the hand which feeds you.” I see this on the rare occasion when I give Famous a bite of peanut butter (but never one using artificial sweeteners). I will get about a teaspoon worth of the sticky concoction on the end of my index finger and offer it to him. He will clean my finger with his tongue and gums never biting me in the process with his sharp teeth. He knows that hand will need to provide for him in the future.
If we ignore or offend the generous God who seeks to bless us, we are the ones separating ourselves from his graciousness. May we come to expect his loving provision in our daily lives.
Prove to me Your love today, O God, as You have each and every day. Help me to receive it in humility so that I might be gracious to others.
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