V for . . . Vengeance?

[00:00:00] It's tempting to want to see immediate justice for wrongdoers, sort of like cartoon characters

[00:00:06] with the delivery from ACME. But let's dig a little deeper. Tune in.

[00:00:30] In the episode earlier this week on Extending Forgiveness, I threw out the bonus thought that

[00:00:53] we are not to repay evil for evil, but rather vengeance belongs to the Lord.

[00:01:00] My husband often tells stories growing up with his older brother. They were very close

[00:01:05] in age so they often attended the same school together. My husband was sort of picked

[00:01:11] on a bit before he came into his own as a track star in his own right. However, if they

[00:01:18] were in the same school together, you didn't dare mess with him. Lest his brother hear

[00:01:24] about it and pay you a visit. Let's just say it wasn't pleasant if he ever needed to.

[00:01:33] First of all, God has an innate sense of fairness and justice as we discussed recently in

[00:01:39] the episode, that's not fair. We posited that if things were fair, we would be condemned

[00:01:47] to a death sentence. However, just like at the end of an old western, there will come

[00:01:54] a day of reckoning for all. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that

[00:02:01] each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad, second

[00:02:08] Corinthians 5-10. I'm not saying we cheer when those in the black

[00:02:14] hats get their due because we deserve it too. But what I am saying is that endlessly

[00:02:20] stewing about slights and wrongs, real or perceived only hurts us and is a distraction

[00:02:28] from our real work for the Lord. God is going to balance the scales so we don't need to

[00:02:35] worry that someone got away with something. It's only a temporary reprieve. It's hard

[00:02:43] for us to be patient, but he is merciful, giving every one time to turn from their wrongs

[00:02:50] and embrace a life of faith in service to him. As I said in the episode on forgiveness,

[00:02:58] we want it instantly, but we are loathed to bestow it. I picture us a lot like James and

[00:03:05] John, called the sons of thunder for a reason in Luke 9.54 which says,

[00:03:12] When the disciples James and John saw this they asked,

[00:03:16] Lord do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them? I can just

[00:03:25] picture it from the descriptions of these brothers in the Bible. Yet there actually

[00:03:31] really will come a day where the Lord meets out justice. He will balance all scales using

[00:03:38] just and true weights. We don't need to enact justice here and now. We don't even have

[00:03:46] to see wrongs righted in this present life. Though life's waters are sometimes bitter,

[00:03:53] we just need to remember there is a day coming. Read Psalm 73,

[00:04:01] When it looks like our enemies are living the good life, we need to remember its only

[00:04:06] temporary. God will sort out the eternal on that day as in the parable of the wheat

[00:04:13] and tares in Matthew 13. Our goal should be to plant the seeds of the word of God as in

[00:04:21] the parable of the sower so people avoid this terrible fate. One that would be ours as

[00:04:28] well if not for God's grace and mercy, that's a gope love in action. Our meme for today

[00:04:36] says, We are to help rescue the parishing, not poor oil on the fire.

[00:04:46] Thanks for listening to Momo 634, Motivational Moments just for today. If you enjoyed it please

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