In need of Redemption

Colossians 1:14

Have you ever found yourself in need of redemption? My reasons for needing redemption are too numerous to list, but this one is from the eighth grade, and all parties but one unnamed girl and I have gone out of this world.  She is not being named because I do not recall her name.  I did not attend school to obtain knowledge and that made bringing home report cards somewhat unpleasant, and that is an understatement.  So I came up with a plan to make my Mother and Dad proud, I would apply myself; wrong, that was not the plan.  This was the plan; I would ask a young girl who worked in the office to remove a report card from the office secretly, so that I could play a joke on my mother.  My next goal was to find someone who would sign my real report card and also put the B & C on the one I was taking home. 

It worked, and life was so good, Mother and Dad were very happy with my new found skill-set until the pink slips kept coming in the mail.  Now if you do not understand pink slip, it was a form that the teacher would send in the mail to your parents if you were not meeting the requirements of the course.  I will never forget the shock, the fear, and the surety of hell fire and damnation at seeing my mother in the vice principal’s office.  I was in need of redemption!

God looked down on His creation and found that like Adam, we all, everyone, has tried to live independent of God, and all of us have tried to send a dummy report card to our Creator.  Each and everyone of us has fallen short of the mark, and we have tried to meet the requirements, we set a standard that looks good by the worlds system, but God has stated that our best efforts are disgustingly dirty in His sight, they are a failing grade on His report card.

I had a boss that enjoyed telling us that our past performance formed the way we were perceived by management.  If you turn to Romans 3:23 in the Manufacturer’s handbook, you will find this; “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” we need the redemption found only in Christ Jesus.

One of many Scriptures that has enlightened me is 1 Corinthians 1:27-30, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so no human being might boast in the presence of God.  He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”  We all come up short, we have all missed the mark, our test score is failing, we need redemption, we need forgiveness, and by His grace God has provided Jesus Christ as your Redeemer.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice