Acts 25:23-27, Acts 26, 2 Samuel 14-15
2 Samuel 14:14 – But God will not take away life, and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.
Lord God, this is such a comforting word. This promise and the full realization of what it means brings me great hope. I was banished from your sight as Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden. I was separated from you and was lost for eternity, but you devised ways to bring the banished one home. You sent your own Son and gave him up for me, yes for all people, so that we would not be banished forever. You gave him up so that I might come home, so that I would be an outcast no more. What an amazing comfort things brings my soul! This is also a great reminder for me as I think about caring for people. You want me to do what I can, to do what is in my power, so that people are not outcasts not from me, not from the circles I run in – like my church family. You want me to do what I can so that people do not remain outcasts from you. Help me to be creative, energetic, aggressive, and loving to bring back the outcasts, to do what is in my power to reconcile and to bring peace where once there was hostility. That is what you wanted David to do. That is also what you want me to do. Help me to work with all the strength you provide so that they will be outcasts no more. Amen.