Daily Devotion: Be Reconciled to God

Scripture:
2 Corinthians 5: 11-21
Main Verses: 
2 Corinthians 5: 18-19
18 All of this comes from God, who has reconciled us to himself through the Messiah and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 for through the Messiah, God was reconciling the world to himself by not counting their sins against them. He has committed his message of reconciliation to us.

Observation:
In the olden times, when a person committed a sin against the King, the King immediately ordered punishment for the person. In several cases, the punishment was immediate death. No one can question nor change the King's orders. In the Old Testament, we read of stories of people who suffered the wrath of God because of their sins. But all of that changed because of one Jesus Christ who died on the cross, the one that the Lord sent so that He can reconcile himself to us (v.18). God, despite being the King and Lord of all His creations, has reconciled himself to the world inspite of our sins (v.20). We should be the one making the first move, the one who should ask for forgiveness first. But, because of his amazing love toward us, God first initiated a way, through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus, so that we can be reunited to Him.

Application:
Have you ever experienced having a broken relationship with your loved one, family, parents, or siblings? How did you feel? A broken relationship with someone that you love can be caused by several reasons, but because of the hurt and pain that either one person or both parties experienced, reconciliation is not usually an easy process. To be reconciled with someone, both parties should be willing to concede. The relationship can never be restored if one is willing to settle the differences while the other is as stubborn as stone.

Imagine how our God feels at this moment. Our relationship with him is broken because of sin. How do you think does he feel right now? We have caused him pain, yet, he made the first move towards reconciliation by sending us Jesus. Let us not harden our hearts. He is knocking at our hearts right now. He is willing to settle our differences and forget our sins so that we can have a new beginning. We need to "be reconciled to God" so that he can wipe away the pain that has been brought about by our separation from him for a long time.

Prayer:
Father, heal our broken spirits. We have been stubborn, but you have been so loving towards your people. Thank you for restoring my soul... for making the first move so I can experience once more your infinite love. I pray, oh Lord, that those close to me may also get to experience how it is to have a mended relationship with you. AMEN.