To read the scripture for today's devotional, click here: Romans 8:31-39
Separation can be a painful thing. A mother dropping off her
child at daycare for the first time causes feelings of angst for both the child
and the mother. Work that involves
overnight travel separates spouses from each other and fathers/mothers from
their children, and all look forward to the work being over so they can again be together. There is even a psychological term called “separation anxiety”
that deals with separation.
Separation is even done for punishment. In the Old Testament
certain laws in Leviticus required that persons be separated from others for
particular periods of time. In today’s world one of the harshest punishments
used in penitentiaries is solitary confinement, which separates one subject from others.
For the followers of Jesus Christ, however, there should be
no fear of separation from God. Jesus’ death on the cross, his burial, and his
resurrection removed all obstacles between humans and God. The earthly has been
overpowered by the heavenly.
Paul tells us that God’s grace is so powerful that there is
absolutely nothing that can separate us from it. As he puts it so beautifully, “For
I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything
else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in
Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
Even when our faith is shaken and we feel separated from
God, it’s good to remember the comforting words that assure us that nothing can
separate us from God’s love.
Prayer: Most loving and gracious God, thank you for bridging
forever the gap that separated humans from you. Thank you for your Son, Jesus
Christ, whose death on the cross offers to us a love that is so passionate, so
powerful, that absolutely nothing can separate us from you. Amen.
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