Devotion for April 29, 2008

In elementary school, children quickly learn the capabilities and
limitations of Elmer's nontoxic school glue. One limitation: undoing
what has been done. Once two pieces of paper are glued together, they
cannot be separated cleanly and swiftly. Rather, trying to take the
pieces together causes them to tear, and a portion of the first piece
will stay stuck to the other piece. Paper that has been glued together
cannot be separated, and if we try, we make a mess.

Paul assures us in his letter to the Romans that nothing can separate
us from God's love. I am encouraged when I think of construction paper
and Elmer's glue, which cannot be separated, because our relationship
with God is the same way. We cannot be separated from God's love, and
if we try to be, we don't succeed in doing anything but making a mess,
because nothing can separate us from the love of God. When the world
tells us otherwise, we can ignore the world and be hopeful and
faithful; we cannot be separated from God's love.

Leland Spencer
MoSAIC