Graveside reconciliation

When we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son (Romans 5:10).

A man was legally separated from his wife and living in a different town for a number of years. On a business trip, he stopped to visit the grave of their son. While standing there, reflecting on his former relationship with his wife and the home that they had made together for their son, he heard footsteps behind him. Turning, he saw his wife who had also come to visit the grave. Because of the hostility that had built up between them, his first impulse was to leave. But something about standing by the grave of their son held him, and he stayed and began to talk. As they talked about their son, the defensiveness and bitterness slowly emptied out of his heart. At that place of death, seeds of reconciliation were planted.

God created us to have a committed relationship with Him. But although God has always remained faithful to us, we have treated Him shabbily. We have cheated on Him by making other things in our lives more important than God—our families, our jobs, our hobbies, our bad habits. Each time something keeps us away from worshipping the Lord, studying His Word or spending time in prayer, we act like an unfaithful spouse, tearing down our committed relationship with Him.

Our sins have separated us from God. But we are drawn to the grave of the Son He loves, the Son who suffered and died the cruelest death imaginable. Jesus was beaten, whipped, spat upon, nailed to a cross and died—and this all happened to Him because of you and me. Our Savior accepted all this mistreatment because He loves us, loves us so much that He was willing to do whatever it took to reconcile us to His heavenly Father. Jesus was willing to die for us so that, at His grave, we might be reconciled to God.

Reconciliation is what Christianity is all about. God hates divorce, because to file for divorce is to say there is no hope for the relationship; forgiveness and a new start are impossible. But God is not willing to divorce us; He sent His Son to an awful death so that by that death we might have forgiveness and a new start, reconciled to God. With Paul, I urge you: Be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20). Come to His Son’s grave, let go of your defensiveness and bitterness, and start talking—talking about God’s Son and the wonderful opportunity that He offers you. Be reconciled to God, and to anyone else you are separated from.