Title: Mustard Seed Faith/ Topic: Forgiveness

Today’s Reading: Esther 1; Esther 2; Psalm 150; Luke 17

Scripture: Luke 17:3b-6
"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him." 5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 6 He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.

Observation: I always like it when I read the Bible and I see something new that I've never seen before. These verses I have read many times in my life, but I always thought there was a change of subject between verse 5 and verse 6. There is not. Jesus, teaching about forgiveness, tells the disciples that even if someone sins against them repeatedly, but continues to come in repentance and asks forgiveness, they are to keep forgiving, even if it's seven times in one day. To this the disciples cry out, "Increase our faith!" The next verse says that Jesus replied to their cry that with even a small amount of faith they could uproot a tree and move it into the ocean. I always saw verse 6 as a teaching on miracle-working faith, with no connection to forgiveness. What Jesus is really saying is that it only takes a very small amount of faith to forgive someone for even many offenses.

Application: I have often said that forgiveness is simple but not easy. Apparently, I'm wrong. If it only takes a small amount of faith to forgive, then a small amount should make forgiving easy to do. The ability to easily forgive, then, becomes a measure of how much faith we really have. Although it has become easier for me to forgive over the years, it is still sometimes a struggle for me to do so immediately. The realization of what Jesus is saying here is disturbingly confrontive to me. I thought I had more faith than I apparently do.

Prayer: Father, I know forgiveness is an act of the will and I always obey by telling you I forgive when someone offends me. But your Word also says we must forgive "from the heart", which to me means I have to get the forgiveness down to the seat of my emotions as well. That's harder for me. I want my faith to be at least the size of a mustard seed---I'd like it much bigger than that! Help me Lord. Only by completely relying on you and focusing on how gracious and forgiving you've been to me can I have the small faith needed to forgive from the heart quickly and completely. Forgive my lack of faith. I want to please you Lord!
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.