A Clean Slate: the Answer to Offence

We have been wining and dining with incorruptible substances at this juncture of our journey to salvation. This is because God wants to make us everlasting beings who will be rewarded with eternal life in the end. But the enemy of our souls, who is out to impede us, has a mechanism for stopping men on their way to everlasting life. That mechanism is a strategy called 'offence'.

The wrong thoughts we think towards our brethren are actually whispers from the devil into our ears. He holds us bound in the realm of our thoughts by painting wrong pictures of others in our minds. Those times, when you thought you were thinking, you were actually listening (to the enemy). The devil cheats us of communing with the thoughts of everlasting life, and ultimately from inheriting salvation when we allow thoughts of offence to stay written on the tablet (slate) of our hearts.

Why is offence such a great hindrance to everlasting life? Because it has to do with your brethren. When we do charity well and are being purified through the unfeigned love of the brethren, Satan knows you are on your way to a reign that will beat him hands down (1 Pet 1:22-23). So, he uses the approach that many cannot resist, except they are helped-- the 'I-think' or 'I-feel' approach. You begin to have a wrong thought towards a brother or sister, a thought Satan gave you to take as your own.

We have taken things that are not our own and claimed them as ours. This is why Mummy Helen Oyegoke admonished us that we must not have anything of 'ours' in this realm of everlasting life. All forms of self must die, else Satan is going to use it against you. Apostle Paul said, "...death worketh in us, but life in you" (2 Cor 4:12). This is the way we ought to live with our brethren-- giving life to them by dying to our rights, privileges, status, desires and so on.

There are deaths that are precious to God (Ps 116:15). Death-- the good death-- has been a thing God has had before Lucifer got his own inverted death. Pastor Emeka Egwuchukwu said in NLWC on Sunday that the Father's work is to give life (Jn 5:26), and the way He does that is by dying. This is the time to do the everlasting works of the Father. This is the time to let go of things that mean so much to us. This is the time to let go of other life sources and begin to allow another (the Father) to live through us. This is the time to drop unnecessary weights of sin so we can carry the weight of glory.

This is the time to be like children and clean our slate. A child does not keep records of hurts done to him. He moves on as soon as he is distracted by something else. How beautiful it will be if we can be like God's holy child-- the Lord Jesus. Oh, how wonderful it will be to see our brethren through the pure eyes of our Lord, and not from the obscure thoughts of them we have in our hearts.

What freedom we will receive when we are quick to forgive the hurts done to us. It is a veritable sign of growth for every believer if he can clean his slate, and an answer to all offences. Let us be slow to wrath and quick to forgive. Let us clean the slate and make no room for offence, malice and unforgiveness in our hearts. Thus, we will be able to accomodate everlasting thoughts on our 'clean slate'!