When some attorneys pointed out to Seattle residences that a fee on their water bill for servicing hydrants should be taken from the general tax fund and not placed on their water bill, the residents banned together to sue the city. The Washington Supreme Court agreed and ordered customer refunds averaging $45. However, Seattle then discovered it had insufficient general funds to pay for hydrant service and thus imposed a water surcharge of $59 per customer. The most likely reason the surcharge was higher is that the city had to pay $4.2 million to the attorneys who filed the account-shuffling lawsuit. In the end it all comes back to you anyway. I feel bad for Seattleites but I understand why this happens. We are all tempted to take the easy road and find a shortcut but often this path ends up putting us in more peril. This is very true in spiritual things. We can not sow without reaping. Wide paths and cheap grace may sound good but lead to destruction. Godly people need patience to stay on the strait and narrow and avoid pitfalls that the easy road contains.
I always hated buying gifts for my Mom. If I got her something like a new set of pans, it was like saying “Here’s something you can use to go make me something to eat”. A gift for her was seemingly a gift for me. There are however gifts you give that benefit you more than the receiver. For example, forgiveness. When you give it, you are giving it to yourself as much as you are giving it to them. Jesus said that when we forgive others it means God is forgiving us our wrongs (Matthew 6:14-15). I once read: “ Heaven is where everyone's forgiven. Hell is where nobody's forgiven. So, when we forgive we pull heaven down into our lives. When we withhold forgiveness, we pull hell up into our lives ” Give yourself something nice today, Forgive.
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