       There is a saying in baseball: 'Three strikes and you're out.' We tend to play life the same way. We give people two or three chances, but no more. But God never gives up on us; it's not in his nature. 

       When Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother, Peter presumed, 'Seven times?' But Jesus set the gold standard: he upped it to 'seventy times seven' (Matthew 18:22 NLT). Then he ups the ante even more with a story of a master who forgave his servant a 10,000-talent debt. Let's do a currency exchange. One talent totalled 180 months' wages - that's fifteen years! And that's just one talent. So a 10,000-talent debt totalled 150,000 years of wages. Using today's average life expectancy, it would have taken his servant 2,232 lifetimes to pay off the debt. Of course, the average life expectancy in the first century was less than half than now, so it would have taken twice as many lifetimes to pay off the debt. Let's put this debt into dollar value. Using a minimum wage of $23.50, for a nine-to-five job, Monday to Friday, that's an annual income of about $48,000. This may not seem like much, but when you multiply it by 150,000 years, it totals about $7,200,000,000. That's a huge debt paid off!

       Through what Jesus accomplished on the cross, your sin debt - past, present and future - is paid in full. That's a truth you can be confident in and stand on.





— SCRIPTURE —

    'Lord, how often should I forgive someone...?' Matthew 18:21 NLT
— SOULFOOD —

    Deut 1-2, Matt 5:38-48, Ps 2, Pro 11:22-23
    

There is a saying in baseball: 'Three strikes and you're out.' We tend to play life the same way. We give people two or three chances, but no more. But God never gives up on us; it's not in his nature. When Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother, Peter presumed, 'Seven times?' But Jesus set the gold standard: he upped it to 'seventy times seven' (Matthew 18:22 NLT). Then he ups the ante even more with a story of a master who forgave his servant a 10,000-talent debt. Let's do a currency exchange. One talent totalled 180 months' wages - that's fifteen years! And that's just one talent. So a 10,000-talent debt totalled 150,000 years of wages. Using today's average life expectancy, it would have taken his servant 2,232 lifetimes to pay off the debt. Of course, the average life expectancy in the first century was less than half than now, so it would have taken twice as many lifetimes to pay off the debt. Let's put this debt into dollar value. Using a minimum wage of $23.50, for a nine-to-five job, Monday to Friday, that's an annual income of about $48,000. This may not seem like much, but when you multiply it by 150,000 years, it totals about $7,200,000,000. That's a huge debt paid off! Through what Jesus accomplished on the cross, your sin debt - past, present and future - is paid in full. That's a truth you can be confident in and stand on.
 
 — SCRIPTURE — 
 'Lord, how often should I forgive someone...?' Matthew 18:21 NLT 
 — SOULFOOD — 
 Deut 1-2, Matt 5:38-48, Ps 2, Pro 11:22-23

The Word For Today is a daily devotional by authors Bob and Debby Gass. Every day, tens of thousands of people across New Zealand are encouraged and uplifted by its relevant insights.

The daily readings resonate with people as they often speak into their current circumstances. Often readers express wonder at how a particular day’s devotion appeared to be ‘written just for me’

The Word For Today is a daily devotional by authors Bob and Debby Gass. Every day, tens of thousands of people across New Zealand are encouraged and uplifted by its relevant insights.
The daily readings resonate with people as they often speak into their current circumstances. Often readers express wonder at how a particular day&rsquo;s devotion appeared to be &lsquo;written just for me&rsquo;