This week at Living Word Galena we started something called the Red Letter Challenge. The idea behind the RLC is to look through the bible for the most powerful words of the bible and then apply them to our lives. The RLC was written as a 40 day devotion, small group and sermon series by Zach Zender. You can look into the book here. But the red letters we’re referring to here are the ones in the New Testament of the Bible. They’re the words attributed to Jesus. These are the words that aren’t just inspired by God through earthly writers. These are the words of Jesus, the very Son of God. Now understand that all of the bible is profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training to be certain! But through this study, we’ll be pulling the red letters of Jesus off the pages and seeing where our lives match up to His teachings.

This week’s Music Monday admittedly happening on Wednesday (sorry been a crazy week) is Red Letters by Crowder. This song reminds of the difference between the words of the world and the words of Jesus. The world condemns. The law seeks to punish. The people around us aren’t always there to have our backs. But the red letters of Jesus remind us that when everyone else is against us, Jesus is for us. We always have someone in our corner. We have a savior who wants to be our friend and brother.

These red words remind us of our being and how our identity isn’t from doing but from the time we spend filling ourselves with the things of God. The red words also focus on forgiving and that’s the essence of this song. Forgiveness. Freedom. New life.

I don’t know what your past held or what your present looks like. I don’t know what kind of burdens you think you have to carry or what’s weighing you down. But what I do know is that these Red Words are for you. They might not take away the pain. They won’t make it hurt less or the burden lighter. But what they will do is give you strength to carry on. They’ll give you the ability to stand under the weight of the world. These words will give you a solid rock to lean on when the storms hit. Take a minute to listen to the song. Then read these words from Jesus found in red,

“Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”