Many years ago, I was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. Believing that I might not survive, I sat down and wrote two letters of apology to two people whom I loved dearly but had sorely injured in the past. Those letters were long overdue.
Saying “I’m sorry” was the good I needed to do, but I was too proud to act until suffering woke me up. And at other times, I haven’t been so quick to forgive an offense against me. Asking for and offering forgiveness is one powerful characteristic of a redeemer.
In Hebrew, go’el means “redeemer.” It refers to someone who rescues, restores, and corrects what is wrong. To be labeled a goel was a high compliment.
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, the Lord is the never-changing, ever-loving, never-failing Goel. Jesus Christ is the only Redeemer who offers forgiveness of sins, adopts us into God’s family, and provides an eternal inheritance through His death and resurrection.
But what about the lesser goels? Is it possible for humans to act as redeemers toward one another? According to the passage from Proverbs, it is possible, and God expects it.
I don’t have the power to take away a friend’s deep sorrow, but I can sit with them, call, send a card, and pray. I don’t have the power to eradicate a friend’s disease, but I can go with them to the doctor, pick up medications, do laundry, bring a meal, and pray.
We all need human goels, and we need to be the goel. Think of someone you can redeem. Then, don’t wait until tomorrow; act today.
Grace Assante has enjoyed various writing projects over the years, and after attending the 2022 Asheville Christian Writers Conference, she was inspired to learn the craft of writing well and not to give up on her dreams of publication. She and her husband live in Brooklyn, New York, and are blessed with three grown children, two wonderful daughters-in-law, and three adorable grandkids. She enjoys traveling, reading, taking long walks with her husband, and meeting friends for coffee.