A little more: Ezekiel 33:10-11

Ezekiel 33:10-11(NRSV)

Now you, mortal, say to the house of Israel, Thus you have said: “Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?” Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?

If there is anything I can think of that comforts me in Scripture more than anything else, it is this: that God wants me to live.

That for God, nothing is better than when someone turns back from sin or from wrong-doing or from evil or from anger, and turns instead to life. To love. To hope. To forgiveness. To repentance.

That when I feel completely broken, or have messed up, or am feeling alone or slighted or have done the slighting, that God's ultimate hope for me is that I return to living.

If you have been in deep conflict or stress, as I have found myself in recently, then you know how cut off from truly living you feel when being in one of those states. Sin means to be apart or separate from God, or turned into ourselves. 

Conflict and stress can often leave us feeling isolated, because sometimes the pain becomes so great we cut ourselves off from those who would heal us or help us.

That isn't living.

And what God wants for us is living.

The hardest thing in conflict for many people is to meet face to face and hash it out; to resist the notion to sit and stew in our anger or grief.

But life comes when we face the challenge of turning back from that isolation: when we seek out the one who has hurt us or who we have hurt and together we choose life.

God wants us to live! So, why would we choose otherwise?

Teach me to turn toward life! Amen