Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — A

A is for atonement

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas.  I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving:  the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

Atonement: the reconciliation of humankind with God through Christ’s self-sacrifice.

There was a time back in high school only driving on my learner’s permit, which back then there could only be one licensed passenger in the vehicle with the person on the permit and there could be no driving after dark.  My father used to take me out driving in an old scout that we had.  Him and my mother never used it because it needed work on the brakes, which as I recall in order for it to come to a complete stop the brakes had to be pumped once straight to the floor and then another two quick short pumps.  The long pump would slow it almost to a stop, but the two quick pumps made it come to a complete stop. 

It was a Friday or Saturday night and my mother and father were going out to visit some friends.  I don’t remember all of the details but I do remember this one very important detail.  My father specifically said, “BEHAVE”.  Well “behave” meant not to do anything that would make him yell, mad, embarrassed, discouraged, outraged, you name it.  It meant to be the perfect little angels my parents thought my sister and I were.

They left and we (I say we because my sister did go along with it, whether she had anything to say about it or not) being the disobedient teenagers that we tried to be, decided to go pick up a few friends and head down to the gravel pits.  Now that I reminisce about this whole incident I can see so much wrong with that bad choice.  God definitely had a guardian angel looking over so many of us that night.

1.    Learner’s permit

a.    Driving after dark

b.    Driving without a licensed driver

c.     Driving with more than one passenger

2.    Bad brakes on scout

3.    Gravel pits (sex and drugs and rock & roll)

4.    Father said, “BEHAVE”

Well we picked up our friends and I tested the brakes and just as always when I had been out driving, if I pumped the brakes once hard to the floor and then two quick little pumps the scout would stop.  No problem.  When we arrived at the gravel pits there were lots of kids already there.  A bunch of our friends came running over to the scout and were slapping the sides of the doors and windows and hooting and hollering that we came. 

One boy, John, jumped up on the front bumper and really started banging on the hood of the scout hard.  I yelled at him to stop it and get off the bumper but he just kept beating on the hood.  (This was the worst of the bad choices that I made all night).  I had watched plenty of movies and seen how it happens so being as brazen as I thought I was, I decided I could drive forward a little, fast and then stop quick and John would fly off the bumper.  Just like in the movies.  Apparently in my moment of thinking I was going to be really cool, I forgot about the brake issue and John went flying off the front bumper but the scout didn’t stop.  I had neglected to do the two quick short pumps and instead of coming to a complete stop it dragged his leg completely under the front tire. 

It was terrible, it was scary. We were immature and had no idea what kind of ramifications could come from something so stupid.  We promised never to speak of it again and went home.  To this day, I never was confronted by anyone about the incident.  It was as if someone took the blame for my carelessness.

As sad a story as that is, (and wherever John is, I hope he knows that I am so terribly sorry for running over his leg), that is nothing compared to the Atonement of Jesus.  When Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge after God commanded them not to, they brought sin into the world.  They were cast out of Paradise by God and our union with Him was broken.  Everyone falls under that rule, no matter how good you think you are, how perfect you think you keep God’s laws, how righteous you live, we all have sinned and fall short the glory of God.  There is only one way back to God and that way is through Jesus.

God came in the flesh, Jesus and He lived a perfect life, He never sinned.  He was tempted, but He overcame the temptation and lived a perfect life. Then He put His arms on the Cross and He made a way for our separation to God to be reconciled.  For the sin that happened in the garden by Adam and Eve, for the sin of the very conception of our existence, for the sin of every single man and woman on this earth today, The Cross is our bridge back to God, back to Paradise.  No sin is too big or too small.  Jesus paid it all when He took upon Himself the sin of the whole wide world.   All we have to do is believe on Him.  One day we will all be judged — if we trust and believe in the Jesus who is the Son of God, who sacrificed His life for our sins — we will have everlasting life.  John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on Him.  We are saved from the wrath of our sins through the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who paid it all upon the Cross being our Atonement.

© Crackerberries 2011