Weekly Devotional - September 21, 2012

"In him we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins, in accordance
with the riches of God's grace."

2 Corinthians 7:6 NIV

We had a common tie from over thirty years ago. Outside that, I didn't really know him other than by name. But the common tie lead to being "friends" on Facebook. He was not a Christian - not anything, really, but certainly not Christian. Some form of Eastern mysticism had of his spiritual attention.

He didn't like the southern Christianity we had both grown up on. For me, it was life-giving and life-sustaining. For him, it was repulsive. And he said so on several posts on my timeline. Until I asked about the health of a person in his family. That seemed to break the ice.

He initiated a chat session that lasted about an hour. The chat was cordial even when we talked about Christianity. He just couldn't accept the deity of Christ and ridiculed the faith expressions he had seen years ago.

But he said if Christians could somehow talk about three things more than anything else - if we could show him how Christianity provides these three longings in his life - maybe he would believe.

Love. Forgiveness. Redemption. I'll never forget that conversation. I'll never forget his desire to be really loved, forgiven, and redeemed. He died about a year later having never found what he longed for.

Love. Forgiveness. Redemption. People look for these things in lots of places...all the wrong places, according to a country song. But love, forgiveness, and redemption can only be found in Jesus Christ. And those of us who have found him must share him with those who are without him.

God loves you. God is willing to forgive you of your sins. God can redeem you and make of you something beautiful, meaningful, and useful. Pray that God will help you know his love, forgiveness, and redemption, and share it with others.