Advertisers do violence to some of our best words. “Refreshing” is one such word. According to those who draft ad copy, you can be refreshed by snacks, drinks, soap, coffee, and a dozen more things—but the meaning is so poor, the so-called “refreshing” so brief.
To be truly refreshed is to “be made fresh again.” Imagine that—being made new and fresh when you are anything but. We get old, we get tired, we grow weary of living in a world of evil and pain. And what about the depressions, the addictions, the psychoses and neuroses? It is hard walking in the darkness of sin—and even harder to be lost in that darkness and have no hope of a way out. How many lost people would give anything for a fresh start? Who wouldn’t want a do-over? Everyone in prison would like a do-over, right? A second chance? And what about all the broken marriages, parents whose children want nothing to do with them, or lonely old people who lived lives of pride and selfishness for decades and have nothing to show for it but empty rooms and empty hearts?
Jesus offers a way out.
And if you’re a hurting believer, He offers it to you even more so. Go to Him with your sins and the ugly weariness of living in a broken world. Give Him your baggage, your burdens, and He will give you a do-over. He will refresh your weary, hurting soul.
“Repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out, and seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” Acts 3:19.
Dear God, remind us to REPENT, to confess our sins and turn away from them. Call us out of this world’s filth and ugliness and the sour stink of sin and death and decay. Call us to You, our great Savior who cleanses us, restores us, and refreshes our hearts with supernatural love and joy and hope! Remind us to confess and do right so we can be REFRESHED.
ΑΩ
Household Words: 