"Fear not, for I am with you; be
not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will
uphold you with My righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
When Elizabeth Barrett married Robert Browning, her parents disapproved of the
marriage and disowned her.
Hoping for a reconciliation, Barrett wrote to her parents weekly. To that end
she produced wonderful, loving, heart-rending letters. Sadly, after 10 years of
non-stop writing, she received a huge box in the mail. The box contained all the
correspondence she had sent. Even worse, every single one of those letters had
never been opened.
Today, Elizabeth Barrett's pleas to her parents are a precious part of English
literature. Still, they were never read by their intended recipients. If her
parents had taken the time to open just one of those writings, if they had
scanned just one of those notes, the broken relationship with their daughter
might have been healed.
If that had happened, everyone would have been far, far happier.
Might I suggest that, with one major exception, Barrett's story is much like our
own. In the Garden of Eden our first ancestors, Adam and Eve, were displeased
with the way God was running things and the single rule He had given about
eating the forbidden fruit. We disregarded God's command and disobeyed Him. That
action, which disowned God, brought sin into this world and sin brought its
partner: death.
That should be the end of the story, but it's not.
Like the story of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, someone started to write letters.
But here's the difference. In Barrett's tale, the offender was the one who tried
to reestablish a relationship with the people who had been offended. In our
story, it is the offended party who has begun the process by which the
relationship might be rebuilt and restored.
It's true.
Over a period of 1,500 years God wrote a total of 66 letters to us. In all of
those letters He told us He wanted us back, that He would do everything to make
it so we could come back. Throughout the Bible, again and again, the loving Lord
held out this promise: the wages of disobedience is death, but the gift of
salvation and reconciliation comes through Jesus Christ. Believe on the Christ
and you shall be saved.
It is a promise that can still be relied upon.
And those who receive that promise through Holy Spirit-given faith are far, far
happier.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks that in the Holy Bible You have extended
forgiveness and salvation. Through the sacrifice of Your Son You have rebuilt
the bridge between heaven and hell, which we have broken. May I read Your Word
and give thanks for the reconciliation the Redeemer has brought about. In His
Name. Amen.
Pastor Ken Klaus
Lutheran Hour Ministries All rights reserved; not to be duplicated without
permission.
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