Tag: A Word for Wednesday

Restored at a Price

It was Augustine of Hippo who confessed, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they can find peace in you.”¹ He certainly spoke for me. In fact, so restless was I one Sunday evening years ago that I called my mother to vent my frustration. “Mom, over the past ten years, I’ve prayed, read the Bible, gone to church, and begged and pleaded with God; but I’m just not getting it.” She listened patiently to my lament and then responded, “I hear you speak of God, but I don’t hear you mention Jesus.” And with so few words, she had gotten to the crux of the matter.

“That’s a sore spot with me,” I replied, “I know the Bible teaches salvation comes through Jesus’ death and resurrection, but I don’t understand why. Why all the drama? Why couldn’t He have just clicked his heels together three times and that be good enough?” (It somehow seemed like a plausible alternative at the time.) Now my mother had been a Bethel Bible Series teacher, and so she summarized the two-year course for me in about five minutes! She shared Leviticus 17:11, where God made it clear that “. . . the life of the creature is in the blood . . . it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” In other words, it takes one life to redeem another life lost.

Then, pulling it all together, Mom said, “In the Old Testament, it was the blood of bulls and goats that was shed for atonement, but that was only a foreshadowing of what was to come. After all, how many goats are you worth? Only God’s life is able to save our life, which was made in His image. Jesus sacrificed His perfect life to pay for our imperfect ones.”

At the heart of redemption is this: Jesus “gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own.”² We are so treasured and He loves us that much! For life, which is sacred, costs life that is sacred. No other currency spends in the Kingdom of God. No other funds are sufficient. Jesus’ blood—Jesus’ life—is required and nothing less.

Everything clicked. After saying our goodbyes and hanging up the phone, I went to my room, knelt beside my bed, and entrusted my life to Jesus and His payment for my sins.

And, redeemed, I have rested well.

[Read today’s Scripture in 1 Peter 1:17-21.]

¹ Augustine, Saint Bishop of Hippo, The Confessions of Saint Augustine, trans. Rex Warner. (New York: The New American Library, 1963), 17.
² Titus 2:14

Click here to purchase a copy of Christ in Me by Paul Nordman.

Tags A Word for Wednesday, Paul Nordman, Restored at a Price

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Transition Generations

I’d have to say Bob Bailey is the greatest leader I’ve ever been around. CEO at State Auto Insurance Companies for roughly half of my 35-year career there, he was visionary, principled, optimistic, engaging and kind. He also had about him the wonderful folk wisdom of one raised as a Kansas farm boy; employees loved him and could quote many of his horse-sense adages. One that still comes to mind in pivotal situations is this: “Think about how a decision will play out two, three, and four steps down the road.”

His advice seemed simple enough—EQ before EQ was a thing. “Of course! Why not?” The fact of the matter, though, is that we make all sorts of personal decisions that gratify only briefly before reaping a harvest of regret in due season. Be it the one-time fling or the one more drink—and we might as well add unharnessed anger and unbridled tongues—our indulgent choices of the moment ripple ruin through friends, family and finances, sometimes setting a rocky course for those who will travel in the footsteps we leave behind.

Yet I also know many people who are to their family what I call the “transition generation.” These men and women set out in life on a perilous path, the lane of a lineage marked with abuse, dependency, unfaithfulness or disbelief. Yet through vision, resolve and the grace of God, these brave ones changed the course for themselves, their family and offspring yet to come. They heard a Voice and followed Him to a new path of hope, often at a cost of dear friendships, as the apostle Peter notes, “Those who do not know God are surprised you do not join them in the sinful things they do. They laugh at you and say bad things against you.”¹

No matter how bumpy the road left behind by our forebears, we can chart a new course for our family; and if we’ve veered off highways paved smooth by our predecessors, we can make our way back by God’s mercy and grace. I can think of no greater leadership than to bless our family—to be a milepost of hope—two, three, four and more steps down the road.

And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. (Isaiah 35:8a)

Father, this life can be so tough and so difficult to navigate. Lead me and lead my family in courage down your paths of good and right; bless us, so we may bless those who follow in our steps. Lead us in Christ, for He himself is “the way.”² In His name and by the power of your Spirit, I pray. Amen.

Christ in me is hope.

¹ 1 Peter 4:4 (NLV)
² John 14:6

[Click here to read today’s Scripture, 1 Peter 4:1-6.]

Tags 1 Peter 4, A Word for Wednesday, Christ in me is hope, Paul Nordman, Transition Generations

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Just Say the Word

In his bestselling book, Love Does, Bob Goff tells the comical and profound story of how he got into law school. (All of his stories are comical and profound, actually.) Concluding an underwhelming undergraduate experience, Bob decided he wanted to become a lawyer. Naive to the rigor of the entrance exam, however, he underprepared in his studies and then underachieved on the test. He received no law school offers. Not one. And this is where his story gets amazing. Determined, Bob appealed to a law school dean, who refused him and kindly ushered him toward the door. There was a bench outside his office, however, so five days before classes were to start, Bob resolved to park himself there daily and petition the dean every time he walked by. “I knew he had the power to let me in,” writes Bob, “All he had to do was say the words, ‘Go get your books.’”¹ So, there Bob sat, appealing to the dean until, five days after school began, the dean stopped, looked him in the eye and said, “Go get your books.”

We’ve seen this play before. His servant near death, a Roman centurion sent Jewish elders to ask Jesus to heal him. As Jesus neared his house, the commander sent friends to Him with this message: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof … But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”²

Now, the gospels are full of miracles that left the crowds surprised, astonished, and amazed. But this encounter with the centurion is the only time we find Jesus, himself, impressed to the point of amazement. For here was one who saw Jesus as more than a last resort, more than a desperate hope, and even more than a miracle worker. Like the law school wannabe, the centurion understood and respected the power of authority, aligned himself with the truth of the matter, and then placed his confidence squarely and entirely in the One in whom exists authority over all things—“Say the word.”

Yes, Lord, say the word.

Father, forgive me for the times I approach you in doubt or disrespect. You are the God of the universe, and your authority is absolute. Grace me to see you for who you are, to humble myself before you, and to trust entirely in your wisdom, power, and love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Christ in me is confidence.

¹ Bob Goff, Love Does, (Nashville, Tennessee: Nelson Books), p 42.
² Luke 7:6-8

[Click here to read today’s Scripture, Luke 7:1-10.]

Tags A Word for Wednesday, Christ in me is confidence, Just Say the Word, Paul Nordman