I have broken places and spaces. Some more conspicous than others.

And at times it's redemption, not these shattered sinful shards, that seems as far from me as the east is to the west.

But I was reminded this morning of the kind of hope I have.

A short little passage in Isaiah that has power indscrible and unmutable.

"But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was worshipped so we could be healed."

Isaiah 53:5-6

I challenge anyone to put their name in that passage and see if it doesn't move your heart to overwhelming gratitude.

Yahweh didn't just take on the punishment, he didn't just atone for our sins simply so we could pass the entrance exam to heaven. As marvelous as this justification is, he was not satisfied with just taking on the consequences of my broken places, he couldn't stop there.

Yahweh heals. He restores. He binds up. He makes whole.

He is punished for me, and then turns right back around to offer me the greatest reward or riches I could imagine.

A heart healed and whole.

Yahweh's not interested in mere survival. He offers life full and abundant.

"The glory of God is man fully alive" Saint Irenaeus of Lyons