Be Redemptive

Idea: We can be redemptive because God has redeemed us.
Pslam 111.9 (CSB): He has sent redemption to his people. He has ordained his covenant forever. His name is holy and awe-inspiring. 

Devotional: I once heard that the four most powerful statements are: “I love you”, “Please forgive me”, “I forgive you”, and “Dinner is ready.” Supposedly, these statements communicate love in powerful ways, and I can certainly see how and why. These statements speak to our most basic needs: Love, Reconciliation, and Food. To be loved is amazing. To be reconciled is sweet. To be served is a humble blessing.
 
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking a great deal about redemption. Specifically, my continual need for redemption and my calling to be a conduit of God’s redemption in the lives of others. It’s not always easy to be a redemptive force with others, especially when we were denied what we genuinely needed or hurt by the ones we love.
 
Nonetheless, we are to be a people of redemption because God has redeemed us. We are to extend redemption to others because God has extended it to us. So, what exactly is redemption? In short, to redeem something is to buy it back. Put like this, God has redeemed us from the power and penalty of sin—he has set us free from the bondage of sin (Galatians 5.1).
 
Friend, all people need to experience redemption in Christ and we all need to experience daily redemption. God is still redeeming you and me. He’s still working on us and sometimes we get in the way. Even so, he continues the work. As he redeems you, be a conduit of redemption in the lives of others.

For Reflection…
 
-In your own words, describe redemption. How have you experienced it in your life? What areas of your life need to be redeemed today?
 
-Pray and thank God for redeeming you. Ask him to help you lay down those areas in your life that need to experience his redemption anew and afresh.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, oh, take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.
— “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”