I call them my junior high friends, but honestly I had a tendency to be each of those characters, and perhaps you have too. Wicked is self-centeredness mated with greed and passion controlled by no one. Wicked is the name given those who seek to be outside the norms of decency and lovingkindness. Bad is one given to see the sign leading to Good and doing an about face. The path to Bad is not measured in distance but convenience and ease. And Bully is the acting out of those traits mentioned in the other two, usually on the weak and innocent. There is no excuse for being any of those, but it happens and you and I may have played the starring role in those three personas. These three play better in the dark where they believe they are not seen and cannot be discovered. Latch onto one of these three and you will find yourself singing the words of this psalm. In the dark alleys outside of God's path, beaten and left for dead, a victim of our own design and desires. The way out of that alley seems too long to undertake, our strength is drained and the only way we can get out is to cry to God. The vision of an open door, a clean and warm room with God beats the cold and fear of the place known as separation from love and life. We cry, praying it is not too late to be loving lifted up by God and cradled gently in God's arms. The boot kicks of our wickedness have left us aching and only God has that which will remove the pain and the stain of sin. Once with God, our tune should change and become the praise that God desires.
Friends, it is not too late to escape the grip and the clutch of those who would take us from the fullness of life. It is a message we are asked to claim for ourselves and shared with others.
PRAYER: Loving God of the strong, loving arms, lift us from that which we have chosen for ourselves. Set us firmly in the way that leads us to life and love. We pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord.
Eradio Valverde
