Brokenness Transformed

As a life-long lover of Jesus, I've attended so many of them, yet they never fail to move me.  Last night was no different.  As each new believer went down into the baptism waters, the words were spoken over them, "Buried with Christ in death...and raised to walk in newness of life."

Every head lowered into the water, every head raised dripping newness.

The child baptized by his father, the teens baptized by their youth minister, the adult baptized by the pastor who spoke over her life, "The Lord is restoring to you the years the locust has eaten."

All changed.  All beautiful.  All new.  All celebrated.

And how much more does Heaven rejoice over the lives that have been redeemed, transformed?  How much more does God's heart leap for joy when the ugly, the broken, and the shameful things have been wiped away, leaving only His beauty?

Lord, give me your heart for the broken.  May I ache for them the way You do so that I never grow weary of sharing Your grace.  Remind me often of my own transformation and give me a passion to see others transformed.  May I never count anyone as unredeemable...and may my eyes be opened to what every broken life can be when it is raised to walk in newness of life.