THE WORD:
Mark 11:25 – “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
The world loves to paint with a gray brush. Particularly in America today, the gray brush broadly splashes over a multitude of basic areas. We are more comfortable with gray paint over our lives … the lines blur … my sin is shrouded.
Everything actually falls into two camps.
Luke 11:23 – “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.”
Ahhh I can feel myself straightening up in my chair – ready to paint in black and white … but wait … my Father is taking my paintbrush just as I was ready to make a masterpiece of clear lines on others.
Oh no – the black brush … I run to the mirror and there I stand completely covered in black. How can I ever go out now and make clear lines on others? My mind tells me that gray is not the color for the world but Jesus tells me I am not to paint.
John 5:22 & 23 – “Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father; who sent Him.”
“Entrusted all judgment to the Son”. I sit still before the Lord and think of all the things He could have judged me for, but in His mercy has forgiven me. The list is long but suddenly it vanishes from my thoughts for in His great love – Jesus has had mercy on my soul. He held Himself completely to the cross when He could have gotten down ... just so that I - and all others who believe in Him - could have a way home to heaven.
I look around and the paintbrushes are gone but nearby where I have cried over my sins the mirror seems to beckon me forth again. I am afraid to see the ugly black covering me but I go and slowly open my eyes. My breath catches - I have been transformed to a glistening figure in a radiant white robe. Tears stream down my face as I realize the covering of Jesus – no paint colors over the top of things but rather a new creation from the inside out. I exhale slowly.
He intends this radiance for all … for God never wanted anyone to perish but all to come to the knowledge of the truth. So then when I stand praying I need to let go of anything I have against anyone because that is what He said.
No gray paintbrushes for God’s kids. No black ones either.