Last year, my friend Jessica got me started on a new concept of picking a theme word to focus on throughout the year. The word I chose was "peace." It was the perfect word and kept reminding me that even in tumultuous times, I could still find peace in Jesus.
I thought for a while about what I wanted my word for 2012 to be. There was one thing that has been coming to mind more and more lately, and that is the concept of redemption.
Most of all, I have felt my own need for true, pure redemption, the kind that doesn't look judgmentally at past failures, but brings freedom. Real freedom, from self and sin, comes from redemption. Redemption is a deliverance, an atonement, the act of rescue, only brought about through the spilling of pure blood, the death of the Savior.
When I think about redemption, I don't just think about the ultimate redemption, but the kind that happens daily. Every day we need it, and in some small way, we can offer it to each other through grace and love, as a picture of what we've been given so freely in Christ. We've all been given the biggest second chance of a lifetime, so there's absolutely no reason why we can't share that on a smaller level.
So 2012 is about redemption. It's about remembering how I came to be free, and what that freedom means. It's about sharing the deliverance from a life of darkness and misery to a life renewed. It's about the grace and mercy that go hand-in-hand with a sacrifice made so freely, but at a great, great price.
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. [John 8:36]
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