DAY FOUR

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love, death can’t, and life can’t, the angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our lord. (Romans 8:38-39 NLT)

Many times in my life I have believed that I had messed up so much that God had probably given up on me completely. Paul’s words to the new believers in Rome were written to give them hope in the midst of their trials. They were suffering under the oppression of Roman rule, as well as dealing with a culture that was not accepting of their new religion. There were many obstacles for them to overcome.

Perhaps you feel that there are too many obstacles for you to overcome in order to be acceptable to God. Has your life been a long road full of potholes, wrong turns and even some head-on crashes? If so, God wants you to know that nothing you have done can separate you from him. How is that possible? It is possible because God had a plan for us from the very beginning to make a way for all of our failures and mistakes to be paid for. The last line of Romans 8:39 tells us how God did it. It says “He revealed his love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  He sent his Son in order to show himself to us in human form. God then displayed his great love for us through the sacrifice of his son Jesus who paid the penalty on the cross for all of our failures, mistakes and outright rebellion.

As humans we cannot even comprehend this kind of love. Not one of us would be willing to sacrifice our own children for anyone, and yet this is what God did for you and for me. When we accept Christ’s sacrificial death for our mistakes (sins) then we have become completely acceptable to him. The Bible also says that we are a “new person, created in God’s likeness-righteous, holy, and true.” (Epsh.4:24 NLT)

So if the road you have taken has left you full of dents, scratches, or even completely totaled; the good news is that you can drive out of the body shop as a bright, shiny, brand spanking new model! God will never even see that you were once scratched, dented and headed for the junk yard.

Take some time to meditate on God’s great love for you. What does the reality of Christ’s sacrificial death mean for you? Have you accepted that God has made a way for you to become a brand new model through Jesus Christ?