The Lion King was sitting around his palace, feeling bored. There was nothing to do. No major crisis to handle. There was no one looking to him to hand out justice. No new laws to pass. So he called for his accountant, Mr. Owl.

“Yes, your Majesty,” Mr. Owl replied as he bowed before the King.

“Tell me about someone who owes me money,” replied the King.

“Well, your Majesty,” started Mr. Owl, “There is Mr. Jack Rabbit who owes you $100,000.”

“He has not made any payments lately and ignores our requests for payment.”

“He does!” shouts the King. “Well, we will see about this.”

“Mr. Bear, have Mr. Rabbit brought before me immediately.”

“Yes, your highness,” replies Mr. Bear.

Mr. Bear starts his search. Soon word spreads that the King wants to see Mr. Rabbit. Mr. Rabbit hears the news and decides he better leave town for a while.

As he is walking down the road that leads out of town, Mr. Rabbit hears a thunderous voice, “There you are, you scoundrel! Going somewhere? The Lion King would like to see you now,” says Mr. Bear.

Mr. Bear reports to the Lion King with Mr. Rabbit, “I found him trying to leave town, your Highness.”

“Well, Mr. Rabbit," starts the King, “Where is the $100,000 you owe me?”

Mr. Rabbit approaches the throne with his head bowed low and his body shaking in fear and states without looking up at the King, “Well, your Majesty, I do not have it.”

“Mr. Bear,” says the King in a low voice, “Take Mr. Rabbit, his wife, his children and all his possessions and sell them so that the debt can be paid.”

At this, Mr. Rabbit falls to the ground on his knees and cries, “Oh! Your Majesty, please have mercy on me. I will get the money somehow and pay the debt.”

In his wisdom, the Lion King realizes that Mr. Rabbit, out of the anguish of losing everything, is making a promise he cannot keep. He looks down upon the sobbing and shaking body of Mr. Rabbit, whose tears are starting to make a puddle on his floor. The King’s righteous anger turns to compassion, forgiveness and mercy. “I tell you what,” says the King, “I am going to forgive your debt. Mr. Owl, tear up and burn in the fireplace all his invoices, notes and all information we have on Mr. Rabbit. Make his debt completely disappear.”

Mr. Owl picks up Mr. Rabbit’s file, tears it in two and throws it into the fire.

“There,” states the King, “Your debt is completely erased. Go out and show mercy on your fellow creatures.”

Mr. Rabbit, still unable to look the King in the eyes says, “Thank you, your Majesty.” He keeps saying this as he bows and backs out of the King’s presence. He hurries home and tells his wife and children the good news. They all rejoice by going out to see “Swing Vote” and having dinner at the Outback Steak House.

The next day, Mr. Rabbit sees Mr. Sheep walking down the sidewalk. Now, Mr. Sheep owes him a dollar. Mr. Sheep has fallen on some rally bad times. His health failed and he lost his job. With the loss of his job came the loss of his health insurance.

With no money, he lost his house and now his family is living with his in-laws. He has spent hours looking for a job but due to his health problems no one will hire him. He is even willing to scrub floors and clean toilets, but no one will give him a chance.

Mr. Rabbit walks up to him and rudely taps him on the shoulder, “Hey, bum, where is the dollar you owe me?”

“I do not have it,” replies Mr. Sheep, as he tells his story to Mr. Rabbit.

“Hey, I do not care about your problems. I want my money and I want it now, scumbag!" He shows no forgiveness or compassion.

“I am sorry, I do not have it,” cries Mr. Sheep. He continues, “I do not know when I will have it either. But if you will be patient, I will pay it back.”

“No! I want it now,” shouts Mr. Rabbit as he puts his hands around Mr. Sheep’s neck and starts shaking him to see if any money falls out of his pockets. When none does, he has Mr. Sheep put in prison until the money is paid back.

The Lion King hears Mr. Bear and Mr. Owl whispering so he asks them, “What are you two whispering about?” They tell him the story of Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Sheep. “Bring Mr. Sheep to me at once.”

When Mr. Sheep comes before the King, he bows low and is shaking in fear, “Tell me what happened between you and Mr. Rabbit.”

Mr. Sheep tells the story. The King is filled with wrath, “Bring me Mr. Rabbit!”

Mr. Bear finds Mr. Rabbit and tells him the King wants to see him. Mr. Rabbit, in smug voice, replies, “tell him I will be along in a few hours. I have important business to attend to.” Mr. Bear smiles and says, “Ok!” But inside he is thinking, “This guy is really going to get it good.”

Several hours later, Mr. Rabbit enters the throne room, standing up straight this time, and struts up to the throne, does not bow before the King and states, “Did you call for me?” There was no respect in his voice, only smugness.

The Lion King, wanting to explode on the inside, remains quiet on the outside.  He starts off, "Here is the dollar Mr. Sheep owed you", as Mr. Bear takes a dollar to Mr. Rabbit.  Did you have Mr. Sheep thrown in jail because he owed you a dollar?”

“Yes, I did,” replies Mr. Rabbit with no respect in his voice.

“You wicked, vile creature,” the King starts with a raised voice, “Did I not bestow compassion and forgiveness on you yesterday? Did I not forgive your debt? Mr. Bear, put Mr. Sheep into jail until his debt is paid. And make sure the guards torture him each day until it is paid.”

“Yes, my Lord,” replies Mr. Bear.

21. Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"

22. Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

23. "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.

24. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.

25. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

26. "The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.'

27. The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28. "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.

29. "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

30. "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.

31. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32. "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.

33. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?'

34. In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35. "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." (NIV)

I think that when Peter first heard this he thought to himself, “I have to throw away my little black book and get a bigger one.

What Jesus is saying is to throw away the black books and keep no record of any wrongs. We are to show forgiveness. We are to love and to love. How many times do we ask God to show forgiveness to us?

Then we should pass this same forgiveness on to others even before they ask, if they ask.

Taking little miss-cues on communication and exploiting them is probably Satan’s best offense in destroying relationships. Satan will take these and exaggerate them so that two parties get offended at each other and cause a rift.

God has shown forgiveness to us for our many sins. His Son Jesus paid our debts from our sin with His life. He died a horrible death on the cross for us. So, is it too much for God to expect us to forgive each other?

What is going to happen if I do not forgive? I am going to be tortured. I am going to go through hell on earth. I have seen many people, unable to forgive, who are going through hell on earth. What is true hell?

When we think about hell, we think about a hot place with fire and brimstone. But is this the really bad part? I think not. Adam and Eve were going through true hell when God ran them out of the Garden of Eden. Why? Because they had to toil for a living in their life apart from God?

I think not. Their hell was the fact they could no longer have fellowship with God. We are created in God’s image to have fellowship with Him. When we cannot have fellowship with God, there is emptiness in us. A void that cannot be filled.

True hell is being cut off from God. And when we harbor this unforgiveness, we are cut off from God. We are being tortured because we cannot have fellowship with Him.

Get rid of the black books. Keep no record of wrongs. This may not be an easy thing to do, but for our own spiritual health, we must forgive. Let it go.  But do not gossip about it with your family or friends.  If we gossip, God cannot help us.

Mike got a new slingshot from Grandpa for his birthday. Grandpa and Grandma had a large ranch with many targets for Mike to shoot at.

He would pick up several rocks and shot at this that or the other. He even shot at the barn. Each time he missed. He was feeling really frustrated when he picked up a rock and out of desperation shot it at some ducks sitting by the pond.

As luck would have it, he hit one of the ducks. In the foggy recesses of his mind, he thinks he has hit Grandma's pet duck, the one with a red ribbon around its neck.

He walks towards the duck and as he gets closer and closer, the red ribbon gets larger and larger. He reaches the duck and looks down at it and it is dead--deader than a duck.

He panics for half a second before common sense takes over. He looks around to see if anyone is watching him. He then bends over and picks up the duck and takes it to the wood pile.

He buries it. Then he puts the wood back over the hole. He steps back and looks at his work. He is satisfied that no one will ever know.

He turns to head toward the house and the eyes of his sister Susie are staring back at him. She leans to the right and looks behind him, then bats her eyes at him and walks away.

At lunch that day, Grandpa asked, "Who wants to go fishing?"

Both say, "I do."

Grandma states, "Susie I need you to stay and help me with the chores.

Susie then states, "It's OK Grandma. Mike has agreed to do my chores."

Mike is slow but not that slow. He realizes he is being blackmailed. This goes on for a whole week. Finally in desperation Mike cries out, "Grandma, I killed your favorite duck!"

Grandma replies, "I know. I saw you do it. But I forgave you because I love you."

In reflecting on Jesus' love for us and all He has done for us, then should we not forgive those who have wronged us?