There Is No List

Jon Acuff is a witty reporter of the Stuff Christians Like. He has razor insight into what makes us tick in a laugh-at-ourselves kind of way.

But every Wednesday, he gets serious. And today, what he said could just change your life. I think it might change mine.

He was talking about the Prodigal Son and the second half of the story. You know the first half. Son takes the money and leaves home and goes off to see the world, sleeping with pigs.His father waits and welcomes, throwing a big party when the son comes home.

Acuff’s humanity imagines the day after the big party, when his father has a little chat with him.

“Son, we need to go over the list.” His father said, “We need to make a list of all the money you spent, all the mistakes you made, and all the people you hurt. Then we need to figure out how you start repaying your debt,” the father said.

Of course, that’s not what happened. The forgiveness was whole It was complete. It was without a list.

I’ve had people tell me they forgave me, but the list was always there. It came up in conversation, or in subtle reminders of my failures. It came up whenever there was blood to be extracted, power to be exerted, control to be used. The list can be an amazing weapon. But unlike humans, God chooses not use it.

“I know that God’s forgiveness is eternal and inexhaustible,” writes Acuff, “But in my heart I feel like He’s going to run out of it. That He’s got a limited supply. And I’m burning them up, one by one, sin by sin.”

But that’s not the way it is. There is no end to forgiveness. There is no list.

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