Sun Down
Here is a term that sort of has a connotation to “The Bad ole Wild West,” when you expect something untoward was about to happen, and often did. We can at times dread the arrival of something, and it is often worse in thought than in reality. Ephesians 4:23-27 “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil.” The key point is this, “let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” Paul is admonishing us to make sure that whatever got under our skin, that wobbled us about during the day, is well dead and deeply buried underground before “Sun Down.”
We can so easily “Bear Grudges” and they will always grind us down into the dirt and completely wear us out, and then we find that the object of our grudge is free as a bird and has no idea that they may or may not have loaded you up with such an oppressing burden, time to let it all go and bury the dead burden very deep, and quickly. Matthew 6:14-15 {MSG} “In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.” A yachting husband and wife team who permanently live on a 40 foot Keeler were asked how they continued to have a happy relationship in such tight and cramped quarter’s year in and year out; the reply was simple, “All disagreements stay up on deck, when we go below, any misunderstanding has been well dealt with, sorted and closed, no disagreements are allowed below deck.”
How often we let things fester and stew, when we need to let them go, or as the saying goes, “Drop the Porcupine.” I goes like this, if somebody threw you a Porcupine, you have two choices, you can either step up and try to catch a squirming mass of dangerous quills, to your huge detriment, or you can step aside and let it fall gracefully onto the ground, and to then let it escape, and to then scamper way up a tall tree. How often we step into a situation, or between people and land up with a face full of painful quills from a Porcupine being tossed about, and then wear the scars for years. John 13:34 “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” To adapt this a wee bit we get this possible verse; John 13:34 {Adapted} A new commandment I give unto you, that ye Forgive one another; as Jesus has bountifully Forgiven you, so ye will gladly also Forgive one another.”
Micah 6:8 {MSG} “But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbour, be compassionate and loyal in your love. And don’t take yourself and others too seriously – take God seriously.” True “Forgiveness” is a very safe haven, and God admonishes and encourages us to bury the hatchet, and not deeply into our enemy, but deep under the earth, mounded over with heaps of Forgiveness, stamp it down firmly and to let the “Sun Set” upon a calm and stress free forgiving heart, all burdens and worries and woes are buried and gone, forgiven and forgotten, if your enemy does not want forgiveness, then just “Forgive Them” anyway, let not the Sun go down upon thy wrath.
If your enemy choses to walk away and refuses your forgiveness, then respect their wishes, and let them bow below a useless load of cares, just do not pick them up as well. Ephesians 4:26-27 {MSG} Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry – but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.” How well do you and I safely arrive at “Sun – Down?” Does your anger get dead and buried long before Sunset every day? Then please resolve to be a “Forgiver of Everybody” for God through Christ Jesus has bountifully and forgiven you, but have you actually accepted it, and then let it heal and restore you back into the image of Jesus.
Back to the start; Ephesians 4:23-27 “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil.” The key point is this, “let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” Paul is admonishing us to make sure that whatever got under our skin, which wobbled us about during the day, is well dead and deeply buried underground before “Sun Down.”
Dear Reader; Please let us each and every-one of us resolve to sin not, and to let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil. Put Satan on a “Starvation Diet” as we have no longer anymore wrath and anger, for we now live a Spirit Filled, “New Life” of Love and Compassion.
