Grace for All
Have you ever said something you regretted? My dad and I built our home in Leesburg. We were nailing shingles on the roof one day when I hit my thumb. The first word out of my mouth was not a nice word and, who would be on the ground listening, but my mother!I got my mouth washed out with soap that day because I wasn’t supposed to use words like that. I thought about that day recently when I read some of the language used by politicians. They often complain about a live mic, but in reality, some of them need their mouth washed out with soap, too.
Alexa, Amazon’s voice-activated device, has a feature. It can erase everything you say. Whatever you ask Alexa to do, whatever information you asked Alexa to find, one simple sentence sweeps it all clean. The sentence is “Delete everything I said today.” It’s too bad that the politicians who use bad words can’t use this feature. It would have helped me that day my mother heard my exclamation after hitting my thumb. I’m sure we all have moments we’d like to erase.
The good news today is that God offers us a clean start. God’s clean start does more than delete our mistakes or bad behavior. God provides redemption – a deep healing that transforms us and makes us new. Isaiah 44:22 says, “Return to me, I have redeemed you.” Israel rebelled and disobeyed, but God reached out to them with mercy. He “swept away (their) offenses like a cloud, (their) sins like the morning mist.” God gathered all their shame and failures and washed them away with His sweeping grace.
God’s grace is better than Alexa. There is no mistake God won’t mend or wound He won’t heal. God’s mercy heals and redeems the most painful places in our lives, even the ones we have hidden or covered up. God’s mercy sweeps away all our guilt and allows us to start all over again!
Prayer: God, so many times we say something that is nasty and do things that are wrong. Forgive us and heal us. Thank You for Your mercy and grace. Amen.
Isaiah 44:22 – “I have swept away your offenses.”
By the Rev. Tommy Herndon
Image: Adobe iStock
