In 1994, 73 year old WWII vet. Alvin
Straight drove his lawnmower with trailer from Laurens, Iowa
to Mount Zion, Wisconsin
(390 km) to reconcile with his brother Lyle whom he hadn’t spoken to in a
decade. If it seems extreme, it is only
because he could not legally drive, had very limited funds, no family to help
and did not feel it was his place to ask others. But his heart was set on reconciling since his brother had a stroke and he was
concerned their time to reconcile was coming to an end. At a maximum speed of 8 to 10.5 km/hr, Alvin
would have abundant time to think about life, relationships and forgiveness.
There were many setbacks on his journey,
equipment breakdowns, and a lack of supplies on the trip, but his determination
lent to the completion of his journey.
Along the way he was able to help people he met to understand the
importance of relationships, forgiveness, and family. There is actually a movie made about this man
called ‘The Straight Story’ (1999) that was good to watch, plus it had one of
my favorite older actors in the lead. Did
he reconcile? You’ll have to research or
watch to see, but this man KNEW the
importance of reconciliation.
How far would we go to reconcile to a
loved one? There was One who went the
farthest anyone would go… We were separated or estranged from God
because of sin, and that sin came down from Adam to all of humankind (Rom.
5:12-21) and brought the penalty of death for all of us, “For the wages of sin is death…” (Rom. 6:23)
but continue reading that verse because that penalty paid was gifted to us in
Jesus Christ our Lord, “…but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
For if when we
were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much
more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation. Rom. 5:10,11
Once, before Jesus came, we were all
enemies (Col. 1:21; Jm. 4:4) of God because our filthiness (Is. 64:6) could not
dwell with His holiness. Those who
remain His enemies (ungodly, sinners Rom.
5:6,8) will not inherit the kingdom
of Heaven (1Cor. 6:9). Those who choose to repent, surrender their
lives to God and live repentant lives relying on Him (can we say faith) have
been reconciled to God, have His peace, access to Him and can rejoice in our
eternal hope of Heaven with Him.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we also have access by
faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice on the hope of the
glory of God. Rom.
5:1,2
Thank You Lord God that You made a way for us to be
reconciled with You. Thank You that You
loved us enough to follow through with those plans even when it was
painful. Thank You for coming to live in
us.
We are forever grateful.