Reversible

Sometimes we are stuck with our mistakes. That’s the way it can be with physical harm. My friend Wayne lost his arm in a hay bailer. He lived, but there was no way to undo the loss.

That’s the way it is with legal issues too. If I run over someone while speeding through a work zone, I am stuck with the sentence for my carelessness. The courts will not commute the jail term for my punishment. I am stuck “till I’ve paid the last penny” (Matthew 5:26).

In the social setting my thoughtless comment my next-door neighbor may hold against me for the rest of my life no matter my remorse. I am stuck with the alienation. But our Lord is not like that.

This observance reminds us of the kind of God we are dealing with. It reminds us of the tangible proof of the kind of God he is. He took the initiative by sending his Son out of concern for reconciling us to himself.

These emblems are tangible reminders that we are not stuck with our past failures. We are not stuck with our present ones either (1 John 1:7). Not only can we change into better people, but he wants to forgive our faults so we can be friends again. He did not send Jesus among us to condemn us but to save us (John 3:7). Here we acknowledge that priceless reprieve.