Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
Ah, redemption.
There are plenty of people in the world who try to be good because it’s the right thing to do. They perform charitable works, do random acts of kindness, treat others with gentleness and kindness we should all attempt to emulate. You don’t have to be a Christian to be good.
There are plenty of faith traditions that believe we can be forgiven and saved from our exile from the Lord: Judaism, obviously; Islam; Eastern religions. You don’t have to be a Christian to believe in forgiveness.
But as Christians, we believe in the redemption purchased for us by Christ’s suffering and death. We can’t buy redemption ourselves; being good people isn’t how we get there. It’s through our belief in Christ and what He did for us, imperfect as we may be. It’s through our belief that through Him, the Lord’s promise in today’s reading from Isaiah 1 of cleaning our sins, will be realized. It’s through humbling ourselves as His servants as Jesus humbled himself and submitted to the Father, that we too will be redeemed.
The words are easy. The way is hard. But the path is well lit, and the travel guide experienced.
