When she was about two years old, our oldest daughter picked up a bumblebee that was on her swing set. She held it in the palm of her hand and even kissed it! It all happened so quickly that I knocked the bee out of her hand and grabbed her up. Nobody wants anything like that to happen to their babies! Especially when you know what it feels like to get stung. You avoid that as best you can.
Oh beloved, when it comes to being stung, you know about it. You’ve experienced the sting of rejection, the bite of betrayal and the nip of animosity. You are now trying to avoid these things at all costs.
But God wants you to know this morning that He is watching over you. He wants you to know that Jesus took the sting out of life for you. And even though you may face these things again, you can live without fear of what could happen. Just like my baby girl and her bee encounter, I didn’t just say we’d never go outside again. You too cannot afford to say you will avoid life.
God also wants you to know that He has entrusted you with the ministry of reconciliation. Not to compromise your faith or your safety. Not to give in and give up. But to live in the power of Christ’s reconciliation – no longer counting our sins against us. He forgave the ones who didn’t deserve it – that’s you and me. He stepped into the danger and took the sting for us. He wants you to know that because Christ died, you can live. Because Christ lives you can experience freedom from fear and worry. You aren’t the sum of what’s happened to you. You are the glorious result of all that Christ has already done for you!
God loves you and He’s for you. Run to Him this morning, tell Him your fears if you need to. Give Him your life fresh and new. Then run out and play, work, love and live in the Light of His Glory and Grace!
2 Corinthians 5: 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation
I Corinthians 15: 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?
I John 3: 16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
I John 2: 16 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
Psalm 1: 6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous…