Reconciliation

I hate to be late.

Just this past Monday, I took my son to the doctor, and I arrived….late.  This wasn’t my first visit to that clinic, and I knew exactly how long it should take to get there from my house.  I even planned five minutes of “padding” to allow for traffic, in case that was a factor.  What should have taken me 25 minutes, somehow took me 35 minutes.  I checked my cell phone, and the time matched the clock at the doctor’s office.  The time discrepancy was unsettling, and I felt a strong urge to figure out what had happened.  The only thing that made sense to me was that my clock at home (my starting point) must have been off.

“For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fulness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”  (Colossians 1:19-20, NASB)

As I read this passage in my devotions this morning, it was the word “reconcile” that popped out at me.  The dictionary defines reconcile as a verb which means “to settle or resolve” or “to make compatible or consistent.”  We usually hear the word within the context of a discrepancy in data or a broken relationship.  Sometimes I think it is perhaps too easy to forget about the gravity of sin and how it impacts the relationship between God and man.  God is holy and sin cannot be in His presence.  Sin means “missing the mark” with God.  The book of Romans tells us that the wages of sin is death.  The only way that a sinner can be reconciled to God is through personal acceptance of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross. 

“Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”  (2 Corinthians 5:18-20, NASB)

The doctor’s office was ready for me when I arrived.  The appointment had been set a week in advance, and the file had been pulled and was waiting for processing.  The agreement was that they would see me at the appointed time, based on their clock, not mine.  It was my job to be there, according to their standard.

God, through Christ’s death on the cross, has reconciled all things to Himself.  He has completed the work and is ready and waiting to meet us, right where we are, and transform our lives.  Jesus says in John 14:6 says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.”  It is our job to accept this gift of reconciliation that He has given according to His grace and mercy.  If we do not, we will not have peace and will have missed the mark.