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A man traveling along a dirt road through rural countryside came upon a peculiar site: across a fence row, a farmer was straining with a donkey that was hooked to a plow. No matter what the farmer did, the donkey wouldn’t budge.
To the passerby, the solution to the farmer’s problem was simple.
The traveler shouted to the farmer to get his attention. “Pardon me,” he said, “but I couldn’t help but notice you straining with your donkey. For the last few minutes you’ve pushed on his rear, pulled on his reins, and even fiddled with your plow but you haven’t been able to get your donkey to move. I certainly don’t want to pretend to know more about your business than you, but donkeys respond well to the two words, gee and haw. You might try using those with the animal.”
The farmer matter-of-factly replied, “Thank you for your assistance. But you don’t understand. Five years ago, this jackass kicked me, and I haven’t spoken to him since!”
Now, I ask you…How many jackasses were in the field that day?
This farmer would do well to heed the teachings of Jesus. 2,000 years ago, God’s Son told an in-your-face story to teach about the importance of forgiveness. Surrounded by His disciples, Jesus used a question from Peter to give us an eternal lesson on the great need of forgiveness:
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18:21-35)
Yes, there are jackasses in life who wound us and others. But when we refuse to forgive them, we look like jackasses ourselves.
Topics Illustrated Include:
Advice
Animals
Counsel
Farm-Farmer
Forgiveness
Grudge
Help
Jesus’ Teachings
Observation
Problem
Problem Solving
Solution
Unforgiveness
Work
(Resource cataloged by David R Smith)
