January 2025

Dear Friends,

Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. 4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. 5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. 6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. 7 But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? 8 And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? 9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. 10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. (Luke 17:3-10 KJV) How many times? Jesus says every time. Every time a person sins and repents they are to be forgiven. Isn’t that a little much? No wonder the disciples told Jesus to give them more faith. They couldn’t understand how they would ever be able to fulfill what He said so they asked for more faith. However, as Jesus indicated, they didn’t need more faith; they simply needed to be obedient servants and do what they were told. They had all the faith they would ever need; they only needed to be obedient. So is the wideness of God’s grace. He doesn’t explain it, He simply gives it. It seems impossible doesn’t it? Doesn’t God get tired of forgiving us after a while? Obviously not, God would not and could not invoke upon us what He wouldn’t do Himself. God showed us the depth of His forgiveness and grace on Calvary’s cross. There the Son of God bleeding on the cross forgave us, not just once but once forever (Hebrews 10:12). The disciples couldn’t fulfill Jesus expectation given their circumstance at the time Jesus uttered these words but after His death, resurrection, ascension and sending of the Holy Spirit they not only understood; they did it. They forgave a world that treated them horribly, even at times imitating their Lord in forgiving the very people who were putting them to death. Those who had experienced so great a grace dispensed the same. The disciples received so much grace from God in covering their own sins that it became second nature to do the same for others; a new nature, the nature born of God; an eternal nature from a new birth in Jesus Christ. In this way we begin the new year, the same way we ended the last; forgiven. How sweet the sound, not just once but forgiven forever. So let us begin this year forgiven and forgiving, that grace would be the watchword of the kingdom and we would be found obedient servants For Jesus’ sake. It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23 KJV)

Happy and Blessed New Year, Jay Weidner