12/12/2014 10:37:19 AM
A Voice of Comfort Today
A number of years ago a teenage daughter made some mistakes. She went out with some friends her parents didn’t approve of. She stayed out past her curfew. And during a late night joy-ride, totaled a friend’s car and wound up in the emergency room with some pretty bad bumps and bruises. And while she lay there in that hospital bed, the only thought that kept coming back to her was what her father was going to do to her and how much she had disappointed him and mom.
Later that morning Dad came back—he had already visited her but she didn’t remember—and he sat down in the chair next to her bed. Her heart started to race. What would dad say? How angry would he be? She heard him open up a book, turn a few pages and then he started to speak, “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” He closed his Bible, bent over his daughter and kissed her on the forehead and left. There would be more to talk about later, Dad knew that, but in that moment he wanted his daughter to know she was forgiven.
There is nothing more important that you need to know about God than that he cares for you and loves you with every fiber of his being. His entire essence is wrapped up in love for you. Like that father to his poor daughter, your heavenly Father wants you to hear the voice of comfort.
Jesus speaks tender words to you today. He speaks to your heart because that’s what’s so wrong in this world today. It’s what’s been wrong since Adam and Eve were chased out of Eden. And Jesus wants you to know that the hard service of sin is over. The punishment is done because he took it on the cross. That’s the victory he announced to Satan when he descended into hell. That’s the triumph that shouts from an empty tomb! Sin has been defeated. Comfort.
That voice of comfort has to mean something to you, right? And if it does, then put it into practice in your life. Fill in the valleys with the comfort of forgiveness. Tear down the hills with the power of that comfort. Leave your sin behind. Don’t wait for the divorce papers to deal with your problem of addiction. Don’t wait for the next argument to deal with your problem of anger. Don’t want for sin to get a hold of you, put it away today. Look at what Christ has done for you, look at the comfort he has earned for you and then welcome his arrival with hearts that have been comforted through repentance.