You Owe Me

"You owe me."  How often have you had the feeling toward someone that they owe you something?  Maybe you loaned them some money, and they have avoided paying you back.  The feeling of "You owe me" usually leads to anger.  We have an unmet expectation, and we are dealing with anger about the situation.  Jesus told the story of a man in Matt. 18 who owed a debt of about $10,000,000.  Unable to pay, he cried out to his master saying, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you all."  The master was moved with compassion, and forgave the debt.  However, that servant went out and found a man who owed him a small debt of about $20.  He took him by the throat and required the debt to be paid.  The man cried out and said, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you all."  But he would not forgive, nor have patience with the man.  His heart cry was, "You owe me", which produced great anger and impatience.  It may not be only money that makes us feel that someone owes us.  We may feel that someone owes us an apology, or an explanation.  We may feel hurt by someone's words, or actions, and feel they should make it right with us.  Eph. 4:26 says, "Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your wrath."  Anger is an emotion that we will all experience, however Paul says to deal with it quickly in a way that is not sinful.  We may never receive the apology, or the money may never be paid back.  Perhaps the person who owes us has passed away, or is indifferent to the situation.  What do we do with our anger?  How do we deal with the unmet expectations?  Malice will be the reoccurring attitude where there is unresolved anger.  Malice is ill will, spite, and a desire to inflict injury, harm or suffering on another.  1 Pet. 2:1 says, "Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking."  We must find God's grace to forgive, lest a root of bitterness rises up and causes trouble.  We must realize that an unpayable debt was forgiven in our lives, and therefore we can turn to our neighbour and forgive the small debts that occur in this life.  Col. 3:8 says, "But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth."  This is only possible as we let God fill our hearts with His mercy and love.  Then from a heart of mercy we can extend forgiveness to those who owe us.

Let Us Keep The Feast

"Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."  1 Cor. 5:8.  There were 7 feasts that Israel was to celebrate each year.  The first feast was Passover, the celebration of their deliverance from death in Egypt.  Because they applied the blood of the lamb to their doorposts, death passed over them.  The Passover pointed to the coming of Christ as 1 Cor. 5:7 says, "...For indeed Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us."  Following the Passover, they were to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread for 7 days.  For 7 days they were to have no leaven in their bread.  They would eat only flat unleavened bread.  Jesus also spoke of leaven when He warned His disciples of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  He said the leaven of the Pharisees was hypocrisy.  A hypocrite was one who acted in a play, and pretended to be someone else.  The Pharisees acted as though they were holy and without fault, but Jesus saw through their hypocrisy and knew the true motives of their heart.  Jesus also spoke of the leaven of Herod in Mark 8:15.  Herod bowed to peer pressure when he ordered the execution of John the Baptist.  He did not act out of sincerity of heart, but was swayed by the opinions of others.  He did what was wrong in order to gain the approval of others.  Paul tells us we should keep the feast, but not with the old leaven.  He doesn't want us to literally remove the yeast from our homes, but he wants us to remove the leaven from our hearts.  The leaven of malice and wickedness needs to be cleaned out of our hearts.  Malice is ill will and spite, the desire to inflict injury and harm on another.  It is mentioned in Eph. 4:31 along with bitterness, wrath, anger, quarreling, and evil speaking.  From the word malice we get the word malignant.  Something that is malignant has the ability to bring harm and damage, and malice will bring damage into our lives.  Paul says to clean out the old leaven, and don't leave any of it, because a little leaven leavens the whole lump.  Even a little bitterness and resentment can poison our life and keep us from bearing the fruit God desires for us.  "Therefore let us keep the feast....with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."