Psalm 118:19-24
Open for me the gates of righteousness. I will enter them. I will give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate to the Lord. The righteous enter it. I will give you thanks because you answered me, and you have become salvation for me. The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Dear Heavenly Father,
You have established, for all people, the gate to heaven; it is given to us through Your Son’s righteousness. We have only one way to enter, and that is through faith in Jesus. On our own, we are corrupt, and our nature could never open the gate because you only allow perfection to enter, and we are all far from perfect. Even if we only sinned once in our lifetime, that blemish would not allow us to enter. What makes matters worse, we have a mountain of sin we drag with us; we are corrupt just being part of this world. However, Jesus is the key to enter into heaven. The perfect Son of God was rejected by those who were the temple’s builders; they scorned him and placed him on the cross. Through that perfect death, he has given us forgiveness for every one of those sins; then, he credits us with His righteousness. This redemption day was the day you planned from creation’s beginning; you had your plan in place to save us. And Jesus willing went to the cross to carry all our sins with him. So, we hear the words of Isaiah, “By his wounds, we are healed.” Lord, thank you for creating a plan to save us. This is something to rejoice in; Jesus has risen; our victory is won. Amen.
Vicar Roger Emmons
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!