Radical Sabbatical – Day 1

The last two weeks have been an absolute blur, with Christmas, family, trip preparations, ministry calls; I’m not really sure how we were even able to pack! But pack we did, load up we did, and we rolled out of Wilmington at 12:36 pm. So it begins!

The first leg of our trip involved a visit to a family friend who is serving time at the Federal Penitentiary in Hopewell VA.  Through a series of personal tragedies, and poor choices, our friend lost his way.

There is a scripture in Numbers 32:

…be sure your sin will find you out.  – Num 32:23

I used to think of this verse in the context of “if you sin, God’s going find out, and get you good!”  But now I have a different perspective:  Sin isn’t bad because its sin, sin is sin because it’s bad (you have to think about that one). If in fact sin is bad for us, and the end result is that we’ll end up becoming imprisoned by it, then it must be true that God loves us enough that He won’t allow us to stay in that prison.  Our Heavenly Father wants to set us free, and the first step in setting us free is to often to expose the sin.  Sometimes that step is painful, it could even land a man in prison.  But it is necessary in order to bring about redemption.

I don't know how things will turn out for our friend. He’ll do his time, and one day he will walk out of that prison.  The question is who will he be: a man free on the outside, but still imprisoned on the inside?  Or will he experience the freedom that comes from a head-on collision with the cross of Christ?  Because we know, when the Son sets you free, you are free indeed!

That’s why we want to be there for our friend, because everyone needs redemption.  Perhaps through our love and encouragement we can be a part of his “God Story,” helping him find his way back from the prison cell of sin, to walk in the freedom and grace of God.

Then we checked into our hotel, and grabbed dinner at a place right next door called “The Tilted Kilt.”  It was an interesting experience.  On Friday we head for DC, for a few days wandering and checking out the sights.

In Love, Clay & Tammy