Three Legs & A Bobbed Tail

While driving home a few nights ago in Priceville, something darted in front of my van.  In the nick of time, I prevented the feline fatality by some quick brake action.  It had not been a particularly good day and what I saw stunned me.  It was a black cat.  Not only a black cat, but it had three legs and a bobbed-tail. "Just my luck," I thought, "If a black cat is bad, what future terror a black cat with only three legs and a bobbed tail will bring?" The kitty, obviously more shaken than I, limped across the street in front of me. 

            The thought struck me of what that cat’s life must be like.  My mind was swirling.  I began to think of just how fortunate I am as a Christian. Though some might belittle with words, I still swish my mischievous tail with contentment when I look at my family. Though some tear down with their actions, my tail is intact. Though Satan hurls physical, spiritual, and emotional pain, I still have life. Though I will one day die, I still have heaven. Why?  The answer is a concept called reconciliation.

            Reconciliation is one of those five dollar words used only in church, but it’s a concept you know.  Literally, it means “to be made friends again.”  Think about your most recent fight. Careless insensitivity led to bitter acrimony that lingered and lingered. If you took the high road, wrongs are confessed, apologies are said, and trust is restored, reconciliation occurs. Otherwise the feud continues.  Spiritual reconciliation reminds us of our fight with God. By our sin, we crucify His Son at Calvary. The tragic consequences of sin are summed up in one word:  death! (See Romans 6 if you want to dig deeper).  But God specializes in reconciliation. His high road always transforms ugly into drop-dead beautiful! 

            Romans five is all about reconciliation. It says, "But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.
 Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way.
If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we're at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life!
¹¹ Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah! (Rom 5:6,8,10-11, The Message)."  Need I say more? 

            Yes, in this life we often pay a costly physical price for our sins; but, God's reconciliation through the blood of Christ pays the spiritual price in obedient, penitent  hearts and heals the spiritual sin feud.  He restores friendship and forgets our sins. The Psalmist wrote, "As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:12)."  If you’ve been born of water and the spirit (John 3:5), then you are promised the kingdom of God.  Now you’ve got friends in the highest places. 

            God knows your name. He cares about your problems in the here and now. Why?  It is simple, really.  He is not content to be your Creator alone.  He yearns for more.  He slammed on the brakes for you so you can have a deeper and more expansive life. “Your God is present among you, a strong Warrior there to save you. Happy to have you back, he'll calm you with his love and delight you with his songs (Zephaniah 3:17).”  So what will it be?  Will you sing and shout surrounded by the love and delight of God’s song of reconciliation?  Or will you at your worst continue the plodding prose of your life?  I want to be a friend of God.  I choose number one.   Mike Rhodes