9.15= Great News!
9.15=
Great
News! Psalm
51:1-7 Leslie Koh
The article in the local newspaper was
short but heartwarming. After attending a faith-based program on building
stronger family ties, a group of prison inmates were given a rare treat of an
open visit with their families. Some hadn’t seen their children in years. Instead
of talking through a glass panel, they could touch and hold their loved ones.
The tears flowed freely as families grew closer and wounds began to heal.
For most readers, it was just a story. But
to these families, holding one another was a life changing event – and for
some, the process of forgiveness and reconciliation was begun.
God’s forgiveness of our sin and offer of
reconciliation, made possible through His Son, is more than a mere fact of the
Christian faith. The article’s news of reconciliation reminds us that Jesus’
sacrifice is great news not just for the world, but for you and me.
In times when we’re overwhelmed in guilt
for something we’ve done, however, it’s news we can cling to desperately. That’s
when the fact of God’s unending mercy becomes personal news: because of Jesus’
dying on our behalf, we can come to the Father washed clean, “whiter than snow”
(Psalm 51:7). In such times, when we know we don’t deserve His mercy, we can
hold on to the only thing we can depend on: God’s unfailing love and
compassion.
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