"The Gift That Keeps On Giving"

Here's a couple of verses that offer a promise kinda like the "the gift that keeps on giving" (Apparently, the original gift that keeps on giving was the phonograph or "talking machine).  But these verses are very different from a "talking machine."  They are found in 2 Corinthians 5:17 & 18 which say, "Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation..."

I remember when I bought my first new car.  I always kept it in the garage, I had it washed and cleaned weekly.  Took up two parking spaces everywhere I went to keep it from getting "parking lot" scratches.  Even if it meant I had to walk a mile to the front door of the store.  And of course, as time passed, the washes became less frequent and some nights it stayed outside all night.  It started getting hit by shopping carts and car doors and just generally used (as any new vehicle does).

But the thing I noticed about these verses is that everything went in reverse with the "new creature" idea.  Everyday I would notice that the "old things passed away"  and that newer things were coming into my life!  However, what I find most attractive and promising in these verses is the phrase "...who reconciled us to Himself through Christ..."  How fascinating to be reconciled (washed cleaned) EVERY DAY in Christ Jesus.  It doesn't matter how many car doors hit me, no matter how many shopping carts run into my 'bumpers' I am daily reconciled to the Father because of the acts of the Son.

Now here's the part that you take home with you every night after work.  "...and gave us the ministry of reconciliation..."  God the Father and Jesus Christ, along with the Holy Spirit have given us this special ministry, and you all have it, the ministry of reconciliation. 

And finally, in verse 20 of the same chapter it says, "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."

Are you at "odds" with someone about something less important than eternity?  Perhaps it's time to go and be reconciled to that person.  And don't lose heart if that person does not share your heart.  You be reconciled and that is all that God asks of you.

Dave