The light switch flipped and the light went out.  They had been so warm and friendly but one word I said and all signs of warmth disappeared.  I have never seen them since and none of my communication attempts have been answered.  That was nine months ago.  He had been affable and friendly and seemed impressed with me.  But on that day I had been critical of his bad behavior towards subordinates like myself.

Often, when I speak with the Lord it is not conscious but a wondering about something in His Presence.  The answer comes through Scripture or thoughts in my mind usually.  The answer may be a long time coming but this morning His returned answer through my thoughts was almost immediate.

“They have nothing to do with their sins.  Their sins are awful.  They are afraid to look at them because they have nothing they can do with them.  They do not know the Redeemer.”

Much, if not most of the time I have encountered this through self-proclaimed Christians!  Perhaps not a surprise since I was a pastor for almost three decades.  But then I thought about the reason for this and it is that people in church have heard the Good News so often that they have become deadened to its daily, living reality in their own lives.  Perhaps God was never alive to them.  Perhaps He was but now they have fallen away as in the parable of the soil types in Mark 4.

Thanks be to God for His great, unfailing Friendship.  Our Redeemer, Friend, Counselor, and Oh…. so very much more!