Was lost, but now am found

I was impressed recently when I spotted a T-shirt that read: "I am the wretch the song talked about."

The reference, obvious because we were at a Christian conference, was to the beloved song "Amazing Grace" by John Newton.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.

When I shared the T-shirt message with a friend back home, however, she immediately suggested a more accurate alternative:

"I WAS the wretch the song talked about."

How true! Thank you, Lord, for your love and grace -- and for the invitation you extend to all to be born again into an eternal life that includes an earthbound journey with you. Thank you for healing that leads from darkness to light; for the "death" that leads to life.

1 Peter 1:3
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

1 Peter 1:23
"... for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God."