High Point is a village situated in north central Pennsylvania. A lake with crystal clear, cold water is fed by springs in the surrounding mountains. The city of Lebanon eight miles south bought the lake and thousands of watershed acreage. High fences protect it from development or recreational use. The water is piped to replace the city’s preponderance of wells and outdoor toilets. Every street has water piped to it for easy access. Residents were given the option of tapping into the water or given the choice of continuing to use their wells and privies.
My brother-in-law chose to keep using his well. For decades the pure High Point water flowed past his home even though he chose to use his contaminated well.
I thought of my brother-in-law and High Point when I wrote my book, God’s Gift of Forgiveness. I read many books and listened to sermons about forgiveness. Many of them pictured God’s forgiveness as conditional. They gave me the idea that God pushes the forgiveness switch on or off depending on our behavior. I asked myself if mere humans had the power to manipulate God. They believed that God is the same yesterday, today and forever, yet God’s forgiveness was not constant in their minds.
In my study I concluded that God’s forgiveness is part of His very nature. It flows unceasingly like the High Point water. My self-centeredness doesn’t stop the flow. It only occludes it from entering my life. The joy and peace of God’s love/forgiveness passes me by due to my decision to continue experiencing the pollution of my own waywardness. God does not force me to tap into his High Point forgiveness.
A few months after my book was released I received a phone call from a now-retired youth pastor. He had ministered to me when I was a teenager. During his working years he had no assurance of God’s unconditional forgiveness. He tried to earn what is a gift. Reading the book helped him realize that he need only open the gift and allow the High Point forgiveness to enter his life. Assurance brought peace. Gratitude spilled over. All my efforts were rewarded in one phone call.