Marvin Schur froze to death in his own house.

The 93-year-old owed the power company $1,000. When he didn’t pay, the company limited his electric use, and 4 days later his frozen body was discovered. Two weeks after that, an attorney read Marvin’s will and announced that Marvin had bequeathed $600,000 to the local medical center.

Marvin’s death was doubly tragic. It’s horrible that an old man froze to death because the power company turned off his heat. It hurts even more to know that he could have easily paid the bill.

Like Marvin, many people needlessly suffer from a spiritual power outage. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection have provided everything they “need for living a godly life,” yet they never use their faith to tap into this resource.

Some groan beneath waves of guilt, unable to accept God’s forgiveness and to get on with their life. Others wallow in their suffering and abuse. They have so identified with their victim status that they’re unwilling to extend God’s forgiveness to those who have hurt them.

Like the unmerciful servant in Jesus’ parable, neither party appreciates that they have been forgiven “millions of dollars.” So they simmer in self-pity and lash out at anyone who owes them “a few thousand dollars” (Matthew 18:23-35).

Such graceless living is a flight from reality (2 Peter 1:9). The fact is that Jesus has entered our world and made His mercy available to all who will accept it.

Let’s stop pretending and join the real world. There’s plenty of grace in the bank. Enough to pay your debts and the debts of those who have sinned against you.