are you redeemable?
Am I Unredeemable?
It's a question we all ask ourselves at some point or another, ultimately many times in our lives. The question is also the subject of a new holiday movie starring Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds called "Spirited." I think this poignant retelling of an old story in a fresh new way is outstanding though I realize some may not like their approach. The story poses the question:
"Am I forever unredeemable?
Can I ever overcome
All the wrongs I'm running from?
Can my worst be left behind?
And do I deserve to find
There's a soul who could see any good in me?
Or will I only ever be
Unredeemable?"
The Bible is replete with biographies of characters who posited this question.
Adam listened to his wife when he should have been listening to God, a horrible move. Could he ever be redeemed? The "second" Adam revealed the answer many years later.
Eve chose to believe a crafty being whose native tongue was lying, and she paid a heavy price. Could she be forgiven? The answer would be discovered many generations later as the partaker of the forbidden fruit became first in the line of women who would bear children leading to the One born of Mary.
Moses killed a man and was about to get caught, so he ran as fast and far as possible. He then spent forty long years with a herd of sheep, wondering, "Could I ever be used by God again?" The next forty years provided his answer.
To save his own skin, father Abraham had his wife sleep with another man on two different occasions. Would God ever use such a wretch? The answer to that conundrum is found centuries later when the older man became the father of all who have ever chosen to follow God.
Abraham's wife, Sarah, had her husband sleep with another woman and then hated her for it. Is there redemption for such a fickle character? She found out at age ninety.
Jacob, Israel's namesake, was a pathological deceiver who ended up wrestling a blessing out of His Maker one night. Are benefits available for such liars?
King David, a person after God's own heart, couldn't resist his sexual urges, slept with his neighbor's wife and had his neighbor, a faithful friend, killed to cover it up. He cried out,
"23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting."
Would God's self-willed "heart-child" ever find his way home? The Almighty indeed searched his wayward son, who later wrote:
"7Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."
He continued:
"17My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise."
David's son, Solomon, was a bonified sex addict and let some of his partners lead him down a primrose path to pagan idolatry. How could God use such a screwed-up person?
Jesus' best friend, Peter, betrayed his pal and walked away when his Rabbi needed him most. Would this bitter mistake forever haunt his future? He found out on a Galilean beach early one morning.
Could a person who made a living and mission killing and imprisoning people for their religious beliefs? How could there ever be absolution for an intolerant murderer? He got his answer on the road that leads to the ancient city of Damascus.
"Spent every waking minute
Taking all that I could take
Never stopped to reckon with
The ruin in my wake
With all the bridges that I burned
All the wounds I didn't mend
All the worth I thought I earned
It turned worthless in the end
What was it for?
Is it possible I was meant for something more?
Am I forever unredeemable?
Can I be the man who breaks
From a lifetime of mistakes?
Can my worst be left behind?
And do I deserve to find
The kind of love that I could lean on every day?
Or will I learn I have to stay
Unredeemable?
Unredeemable"
The age-old question was answered once and for all inside a lonely stable in a tiny Palestinian village and eventually followed up by the most significant event in human history.
"Am forever unredeemable
If I'll ever be someone
Who makes up for all they've done
Or is all I am unlovable?
Am I someone someone can forgive?
Can I take the leap and live?
There's a lot I'd leave behind
But I've got to go and find
If it's true that there is truly good in me
And maybe see that I won't always be
Unredeemable
Am I unredeemable?
Unredeemable"
All of heaven shouts the solution.
No! No, you are not unredeemable! You are loved, forgiven, and can live because when you place your past, present, and future into the hands of the Christ child of Christmas, His goodness, the divine Spirit, takes up residence inside you. Eternal redemption is yours.
Jesus is in the human redemption business, and He invites you to live on the other side of your sin. Your mistakes are no longer your master, and they no longer define who you are. The Teacher accepts you right where you are, but he loves you too much to let you stay there, so He guides, empowers, and coaches you into a better future filled with joy. His forgiveness is ongoing and never-ending, so you are never stuck in the mire of your mistakes.
You can live in your redemption every day and be relieved of the haunting feeling that you are not good enough. Jesus makes you good enough. Stop dragging the ball and chain that pulls you down, and enjoy the freedom, grace, and love of the One who made you redeemable!
Live Inspired!
Don Mark
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