“If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:6-7
It’s time for another “back in the day” story about this photo taken at the Lutherienne School in Merrotte possibly in 2002; before there was a Trinity/HOPE feeding program there. If you have ever snapped a photo and it didn’t turn out just how you would have liked this was one of those moments for me; I was in a hurry to get to the next classroom. I can’t recall this teachers name but he also sold shoes in the evenings and this young man had a million dollar smile which I missed capturing on film with my old Pentax SLR. It seems like our world is in too much of a hurry these days when it really needs us to slow down and spend just a little more time getting to spend a few extra moments with a friend or stranger. These two boys and four girls started to have a noon lunch in the following year and their smiles grew larger and I am hoping they had more energy to spend a few extra moments sharing the Good News about their Savior whose blood washed away all their sins and those of this world. Perhaps you and I will get an opportunity to do that today as well one day; share the message. I am closing today with the words from the hymn ‘Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness’ that were written by Ludwig von Zinzendorf, in 1739.
“Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness my beauty are, my glorious dress; midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed, with joy shall I lift up my head. Bold shall I stand in that great Day, for who aught to my charge shall lay? Fully through these absolved I am from sin and fear, from guilt and shame. The holy, meek, unspotted Lamb, Who from the Father's bosom came, Who died for me, e'en me t'atone, now for my Lord and God I own. Lord, I believe Thy precious blood, which at the mercy-seat of God forever doth for sinners plead, for me, e'en for my soul was shed. Lord, I believe were sinners more than sands upon the ocean shore, Thou hast for all a ransom paid, for all a full atonement made. When from the dust of death I rise to claim my mansion in the skies, e'en then, this shall be all my plea: Jesus hath lived and died for me. Jesus, be endless praise to Thee, Whose boundless mercy hath for me, for me, and all Thy hands have made, an everlasting ransom paid.”
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you…Jay