by Rev Douglas P Brauner

God’s love reaches into our darkness.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” 
Romans 5:7-8 New Living Translation

Many cities have at least one alley. Some of us find these alleys attractive, while others stay far away from them. They are places of graffiti and strangers. They are places when back doors become front doors for behavior that is the subject of television programs. They are places of darkness and few streetlights.

Colorado Springs, Colorado

These alleys are also found in our lives. We have those areas inside of us where we don’t want to tread. There is darkness in these inner alleys that we would rather not see exposed to the light, and secrets that we don’t want unearthed.

Can God’s love reach into our alleys?  Can God’s love reach into your alleys?

“Christ died for us while we were still sinners.” It is interesting that Paul says, “still sinners.” We didn’t need to change for Christ to give his life for us, in fact we could not make these changes by our own strength. While we were deeply consumed in the alleys of our lives, Christ died for us. While we struggled with the darkness that seems to cling so tightly to us, Christ died for us. While we refused to come to the light, Christ died for us.

Christ died for you.

We still struggle with the alleys of our lives. We still struggle with darkness. We still struggle with sin. However, God’s love for us in Christ has not changed. He still walks the alleys. He still finds us even when we don’t want to be found.

Why? It is because he loves us. He loves you.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado