BE RECONCILED

2Corinthians 5: 14 – 21

The word, reconcile, means to bring oneself to accept, or to re- establish a relationship with someone or something.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

I may have this wrong, but, these verses make me think that God wants to re – establish a relationship with us. But, what is this ministry of reconciliation?
After visiting a homeless shelter, a group of teenagers couldn’t wait to express what they had experienced. Excitedly, they wrote about their visits with men and women of all ages who were poor and destitute. While desiring to share God’s message of reconciliation, these teens were surprised to find that some of the people already knew God. By cutting through the discomfort of their differences, the kids discovered people who needed the reassurance that God still cared for them.
There are a lot of people out there who need our reassurance that God loves them and has not forgotten about them. Even though they may have walked away from God, He hasn’t walked away form them.
As the Hymn says; “Quietly tenderly Jesus is calling. Calling all sinners, come home”.
Lord, use us as Your instrumentsOf truth and love and care,And may we bring encouragementAs Your good news we share. (Sper)
20 We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.
21 How you say? In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God. (The Message)
A word of encouragement can make the difference between giving up and going on.