Alienated or Reconciled

My two youngest grandsons can’t wait to see each other.  As soon as they get to my house, they are in the back yard playing in the sand box.  But it isn’t very long before one of them throws some sand, the other one retaliates, and then it’s on.  One of them comes inside crying with the other one close behind explaining his side of the story.  They are, here’s the Bible word, “alienated” from each other.  There is no hope for their relationship.  But then Granddaddy gets involved and the FBI investigation begins.  I ask some questions and determine how it all started.  Soon, they feel bad about their behavior, one toward the other, and they apologize to each other and go back outside to play, best of buddies.  What did I do?  Another Bible word: I “reconciled” them.  They were at odds, but I got them together and restored their relationship to what it was before the problem.  Hey, that’s what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross of Calvary.  We were separated from God by our sins.  We could do nothing to restore our broken relationship with God.  We were “alienated” from God.  But God sent His Son, Jesus, to bring us back into fellowship with God.  God didn’t just let us slide; Jesus took our punishment on the cross, paid for our sins, and “reconciled” us to God.  What Adam lost in the Garden of Eden, Jesus restored on the cross of Calvary.  We were “alienated” by our sins, but Jesus Christ “reconciled” us to God.  Paul said in II Corinthians 5:18, “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ …”  Hey, have you been reconciled to God?  Have you accepted the substitution of Jesus on the cross?  If you haven’t, do it today.  Don’t be alienated; be reconciled.  Reconciled to God for eternity.