“Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭18‬ ‭CSB‬‬

I don’t know for sure but I think Paul must have been near the end of his long ministry when he wrote this. He seems ready to be done. In the verses before this he talks about preferring to be ‘home with God’ instead of in his ‘tent’ or his earthly body. I think he’s in pain. Prison, torture, isolation… that’ll do it to you. But this is not a hopeless message. Quite the opposite! He is excited about what is to come and he can’t wait. Why? Because he knows that he has been forgiven. Reconciled by Jesus. His whole ministry has been based on that excitement. He wants everyone to know reconciliation with God! He wants everyone to be sure of what comes next. Today’s verse explains how this reconciliation with God should affect me. When I accept forgiveness, I also accept the exciting job of sharing that potential reconciliation with other people. Lots of people are afraid to die. Because they don’t know what’s next. But Paul did. And I do. And everyone who knows Jesus knows what’s next. Because of Jesus’s efforts to reconcile me, the beautiful wonder of eternity with my loving Creator is next. Sharing that good news is my ministry of reconciliation.

Dear God,

Thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you for reconciling me to you. And thank you for your beautiful promise of what happens next, after this life ends. I look forward to that. In the meantime, teach me how to run a ministry of reconciliation. I don’t know what that looks like so speak to me about it in practical ways as I interact with the people you put in my path.