Welcome to Day 2! Listen to the Audio above as you follow along with the text below. Don’t forget to leave a comment and share with your friends.😊

In March 2015, the Anglican Church of Uganda lost a great leader, Rev. Dr. Solomon Nkesiga. He was a great man. A father, husband teacher and friend to many. The passing of an incredible influential person always leaves behind a strange void, and the words shared in remembrance of who they were and what they did tend to stick.

The late Reverend’s funeral service was one filled with words of honour. He had influenced many people positively. I remember sitting in awe of the legacy of this great man as his oldest son, Ignatius, shared a story I will never forget.

One day, as they were out playing, Ignatius and his brother threw a stone that shattered the window of their father’s office. Rev. Solomon called Ignatius into his office and told him to think about what he had done. Moments later, he returned with a stick. Ignatius was sure that the time had come for him to receive his punishment.

To Ignatius’ surprise, Reverend Solomon lay down on the ground and asked his son to cane him 10 times with the stick he had brought. He insisted that his son cane him and cane him well. After He had been caned, the reverend stood up and rubbed his back saying, “Someone had to take the punishment for the broken window.”

I can only imagine the shock and wonder that raced through Ignatius’ young mind.

On the night that Jesus was to be arrested, He withdrew along with His disciples to The Garden of Gethsemane where he prayed. This was no ordinary prayer. Unlike the earlier moments in Jesus’ life and ministry, where he always seemed confident and strong, this was different. He was deeply troubled and filled with sorrow.

Jesus knew that the time had come, and that the pain and suffering that was upon him was like no other. He says to his disciples in Matt 26:38, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Three times he prayed to the father saying, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matt 26:39-44)

Dying wasn’t an easy choice for Jesus. The day that Jesus died was a dark and difficult day for God. And those moments of Jesus in the Garden give us a glimpse into how he felt going in. But he looked at you and he looked at me, and considered the pain worth it. He was willing to give up His own life in the most painful and scandalous way so that He could have intimacy with us. 

You see, sin stood in the way of this relationship that God wants to have with us. And sin had to be punished for this relationship to exist. So Jesus paid the ultimate price for sin so that you and I could have intimacy with God.

God loves you and wants to show you a greater life than you can imagine. A life filled with hope and purpose. Don’t run away from God today. Let Him in and let him change your life.

Prayer

Good and Gracious Father
Thank you for you incredible Love
Even though we were guilty in our sins
You chose to pay ultimate sacrifice for us

Gracious father
We surrender our lives to you
Teach us to see you kingdom
And teach us to serve you
May our lives be transformed
As we grow more intimate with you
And may our testimony of You in our lives
Transform the world around us
In Jesus Name we pray
Amen

Verses

Romans 6:22-23 (MSG)

But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.

Ephesians 2:1-10 (NIV)

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.