Focus

Stop and thank God for being present with you today. Ask for God’s guidance as you hear God’s voice through scripture and the writer.

Read

Romans 5: 6-11 (NRSV)

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Reflect

I remember when I first found two of my cats, Smokey and Buddy Dobbs. Someone had abandoned them as kittens in the picnic area of a state park. I knew that someone needed to rescue them, but left to fend for themselves, they had developed some wild, feral habits, including a distrust of humans. I tried calling to them, but they ran back into the woods. I would bring them food to a picnic shelter. They would watch me pour it on a picnic table, but kept their distance, probably wondering why someone was bringing them food. As I would leave, I would see them slowly come up and eat.

After a while of doing this, they finally got brave enough to come to the shelter with me when I would put out food and water. One day I tried to pet one as he was eating. Big mistake! He clawed me and if my doctor had needed to draw blood for anything, I had plenty to offer dripping from my hand and arm! As a cat lover, I didn’t end caring for those abandoned park cats that day. I continued to bring them food, and borrowed a live trap in the hopes of catching them to have them checked by a vet, and fixed so we wouldn’t have additional park kittens running around.

I did manage to catch them and take them to our vet. When I returned the next day to pick them up, I was told that Smokey could probably be tamed a little more and make a pet. Buddy Dobbs was just feral and I needed to find a field and turn him loose. As I was driving them home, I looked at them in their cat carriers, and their faces seem to say, “You came back for us? You have taken care of us and now you are taking us home?” I took them home, and really did try to find homes for them, but they made friends with Benjamin and insisted upon becoming part of our family. Smokey is currently proofreading every word of this, as he loves to sit next to the computer while I work, or occasionally fall asleep in my lap. As for my “feral” cat Buddy Dobbs, I woke up this morning with him stretched out as close to me on the bed as he could get, between my side and arm, using my arm as a pillow. This is the case most mornings. I took a chance on these kitties, and someone who abandoned them in the park has missed out on all the love and companionship they give to our family.

Sometimes it might be difficult for us to wrap our minds around the fact that God reached out to us, even died for us, while we were sinners running away from God. But God loves us so much, that God would do what must be done to bring us home. God took a chance on us because in God’s eyes we were worth the chance.

Pray

Saving God, we praise you and thank you that we are valuable in your eyes. Thank you for loving us so much that you seek us out and know what is best for us even before we realize that you have our best interests in your heart. Thank you for your salvation. Thank you for coming back for us, and carrying us home. Amen.

Go with God!