Forgot to post this morning after my quiet time. I was praying 2 Corinthians 5:21, thinking about the fact that when I sin I don't anger God (Christ has become sin for me), but I do grieve him. I was writing my prayer in one of my prayer emails and I used the word "only." It only grieves God. It hit me that I had used the word "only" regarding grieving God and that led my prayer time into whole different direction. How sad to think like that.
I'm inspired and convicted by Paul's drive and passion to call people back to God. On the one hand he claims great dignity--he is an ambassador for Christ, representing him and his message of reconciliation to the world. On the other hand, he begs people to come back to God. That's the word used in the New American Standard Bible. The NIV and ESV use "implore" and the NLT uses "plead." (You can do this kind of comparison too by going to Biblegateway.com.) These are all strong words that, juxtaposed with "ambassador," stood out to me this morning. My prayer, growing out of this passage, was and is to share Paul's passion for helping bring people far from God back to him. I am Christ's ambassador...dignified enough to beg someone to listen to Christ's invitation.