Free at last
“Comfort, oh comfort my people,”
says your God.
“Speak softly and tenderly to Jerusalem,
but also make it very clear
That she has served her sentence,
that her sin is taken care of—forgiven!
She’s been punished enough and more than enough,
and now it’s over and done with.”
~ Isaiah 40:2 (MSG)
God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens. ~ Romans 8:21 (MSG)
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Live now according to the freedom that God is in the process of implementing.
PRAYER
Thank you, God, for the freedom that Christ delivers to all who will accept it. Forgive me for wallowing in my guilt -- as though that's normal. Help me to be matter-of-fact about my sinfulness, giddy over my forgiveness, and extravagant with my freedom. I'm eager for a full and free life in the new creation. Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
