“The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.” (Matt. 18:27)

A WISE FRIEND ONCE SAID, “Jesus has already written out the check in His blood. The debt is paid. Now we have to go cash it.” Looking in hindsight from this side of the crucifixion, we can see that in this parable Jesus was alluding to His sacrifice which cancelled our debts (sin) so we can come before the throne of grace cleansed and forgiven.

The master chose to forgive the servant because the servant asked for leniency. The servant didn’t have to jump through hoops to prove his sincerity. He was taken at his word. Does this mean the master was naïve? No. The master chose to forgive. He gave the servant another chance to prove he could change.

So Christ does with us. He is the God of second chances. Nothing can separate us from Christ’s love. God offers us forgiveness. All we have to do is cash the check, plain and simple.

Having cashed the check, should we keep it all for ourselves, or do we share it with others? Being forgiven should spark a desire in us to be more forgiving toward others. We should see the speck in their eye in comparison to the plank just removed from ours (Matt. 7:3–5).