Redemption. Such a loaded word. For some it carries religious significance, or baggage. For some it is an abstraction with little meaning at all. For me it continues to be the focal point of a journey.

Growing up in a church I usually heard this word in connection with people's need to be redeemed, which meant that they were going to hell and needed a spiritual change to reverse their eternal destiny. That was it. Redemption meant saving yourself from some kind of horrible existence after death. It didn't have to change your life. This is why I mention that the word redemption can have baggage or seem irrelevant.

There are so many things that are wrong with this world. There is constantly war going on somewhere, people are starving to death while people like me have food stockpiled in cabinets, car accidents, litter killing the beauty of parks, people lie and cheat and steal, and that is just a small sampling. The world is messed up. I am messed up. Government is messed up. There is nothing in this world that has escaped being messed up somehow. Things aren't right.

Which leads me back to redemption. Over the years I've come to see that redeeming something means making it right, making it good, making it beautiful. Redemption is not some abstract spiritual concept that has no meaning beyond what happens to a person after they die. It's about making what is wrong right; embracing others rather than building barriers; making beauty rather than ugliness; pursuing peace instead of conflict; loving rather than hating. We either pursue redemption or contribute to what is wrong with the world.

That is why redemption is so important. There is no part of my life or this world that is not in need of it. We need people who are about making it right. And that is why I love following Jesus. His whole life was about redemption. Jesus sought to restore what had been lost spiritually, emotionally, and physically. He spent his life seeking to make right what had gone wrong. If you want to see what I mean check out what Matthew wrote in the Bible. It's Jesus' biography.

If the world has gone wrong and the point is to make it right, then all of life is about redemption. This is what intrigues me. This is what makes me think there are no limits to redemption.