Seven Pounds of dead works

Yesterday I watched the movie "Seven Pounds" starring Will Smith et al, and, I must admit, it had me in tears. It was exceedingly sad to think how some people try to make atonement for their sins in their own strength when we know that Yahushua died for all our sins and we can be forgiven if we truly repent and turn to Him.

Will Smith reportedly confirmed that the title refers to Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice", in which a debtor must pay a pound of flesh. In this movie, seven gifts were given to seven individuals deemed worthy by Smith's character, to atone for seven deaths he caused.

Smith's character states "In seven days God created the world and in seven seconds I destroyed mine." That seems to give a clue that somehow, his character takes up the role of YHUH in the movie, trying to fix his own mistake. If YHUH is the creator, why not turn to Him as the Father and ask for help in time of need? Instead Smith's character has serious depression, anxiety and guilt and he tries to make penance, like a Catholic, by donating parts of his body and giving away his property, etc., until finally, he gives up his very life - dead works.

Please note that he does not make restitution to the people directly affected by the loss of the seven loved ones killed in the accident, but he rather makes restitution by helping total strangers, (which he deems worthy, playing the role of YHUH), which were unrelated to the accident. He should perhaps rather have focused on the families of the lost loved ones? Perhaps there was loss of income in families due to the death of a main breadwinner - should he not rather have bothered to find out and have assisted where it was most needed? If restitution were to be made, why not to the people directly affected by his actions? This indicates that he was only focusing on ridding himself of his own feelings of guilt, not on making true restitution as YHUH would have preferred. He could have at least personally apologized, shown true repentance and made restitution somehow to the people most greatly affected by the accident. Everything he did was under false pretense of being his brother as he stole his brother's IRS identity to get closer to the people he was helping. He lied and deceived to hide his true identity and purpose - he could not just be himself and own up to everything honestly and show true repentance openly, and that already shows that his way of going about things was wrong.

Nobody can repay their sins, only Yahushua's blood can do that. To end the movie on the note of suicide was the saddest thing of all. What message is being sent? Suicide is never an option as it states in the Bible, the sixth commandment in Exodus 20:13 "Thou shalt not murder". I John 5: 3 "For this is the love of YHUH that we keep his commandments". Interestingly as well in 1 John 5:16 it states "There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it." It is the one unpardonable sin as it cannot be repented of afterwards - who is there to ask for forgiveness? There is no purgatory. Prayers from family members, etc., cannot help you.

Heb 9:27 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement:"

Suicide is the ultimate cowardice - I know, how can I talk when I have not been tortured, repeatedly raped, had terminal illness with constant, gnawing pain, etc? One thing I can say is that the only thing you can hold onto, and which is truly yours for the keeping, is your salvation. If you let the demons of this world take that from you they have overcome you completely and they have a sweeter victory. The best way to beat them is to commit yourself into the hands of YHUH - Rom 12:19 "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith YHUH."

2 Tim 1:7 For YHUH hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

This means that you cannot even say that the person was temporarily insane and must be forgiven for committing suicide - we are even to try overcome insanity to hold onto our salvation. With YHUH all things are possible.

Also, how do you know what is just around the corner in the next second, minute, hour, day, etc.? The happiest moment of your life might just surprise you, so why turn your back on that?

I know, it says in 1Jn 3:16 "By this we have known the love of YHUH, because He laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers." Sure, if you are defending someone in an attack, and you happen to get killed, that is fine, but if you willfully commit suicide in any way, wishing to die to escape, then that is another story altogether. It is an empty sacrifice to commit suicide to donate organs - I would not be comfortable for the rest of my life knowing that the person who donated the organs lost his/her salvation. Yahushua knew YHUH would raise Him up again - we do not have that promise from YHUH when we commit suicide. Yahushua was ordained to be resurrected unto glory - we are only able to attain resurrection if we overcome this world prior to our natural death.

Man is not YHUH - the "clay" in this movie is getting too smart for his own good:

Isa 29:16 "Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?"

The theme of man over YHUH runs throughout the movie. Is organ donation ordained of YHUH? That is another question altogether. Are we, and the doctors performing these intricate operations, not trying to replace YHUH's place, and will, in the natural order of things? If Hitler wanted a kidney prior to the beginning of World War 2 would you have donated him one? A donor does not know who the recipient may be. If a child is to die at a few months of age, who are we to question - YHUH knows all. Everything has its own glory in as short a time as it has been given. 

There is a trap for some people, as said in 1Jn 2:16 "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." Pride of life - this is the other extreme opposite to suicide. It is wrong for true disciples of Yahushua to want to extend their life on this earth, or the life of others, as it appears, there is little faith being shown in the promises of YHUH and Yahushua of the life hereafter. Let Hebrews 11 bolster the faith of those who are wavering. Even if you want to extend life to do YHUH's work, who are we to say when our work is done - perhaps someone else is to do it and some just want to stay in the limelight? The beloved Apostle Paul knew when his time was up, as YHUH told him, and he went graciously, knowing that there was still much work that he no doubt wished to do. He trusted YHUH to delegate to others.

The even creepier aspect to organ donation is the perception, that some people have, that the donor is "living on", like a haunting ghost in the other person's body and life. The loved ones of the deceased, and the recipient cannot find peace. The dead know nothing, their spirit sleeps, the tissue donated is nothing but tissue and it should just be left at that - move on.

There is not enough time or space to say all that I wish to say but I have a feeling I will add to this as time passes and I may well get feedback on this article that will spark discussion and debate - it is very contentious to many people - I welcome elaboration.

To end with, the only positive aspect in the movie, to my mind, was the scene which would have had Oprah Winfrey feeling vindicated, which was the cause of the accident in the first place, which was texting on a cellular phone whilst driving - a big no-no.