Colossians 1:20-23

"And, having made peace through the blood of the cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by
wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and
unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved
away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was
preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am
made a minister;"
Colossians 1:20-23


I love this picture of the atonement... that it is about peace and reconciliation--making all things in tune with God. ... And haven't we all felt this? Feeling alienated or enemy-like when we do something wrong, and we find ourselves not on God's side? It's a scary feeling, and hard to shake. Takes work to bring things back into alignment and experience that peace again... but no work is more worth it to do. I like the idea of being beyond blame and reproof... of being grounded in faith, and never being moved away from hope.
Today, if we feel a little like alien enemies, let's remember that God did all of this for us, so that we can be at peace, and have hope in our lives. Let's accept the reconciliation he offers, and have faith that things will always work out better with God than without.