There in the filth and mire he stayed, upset with himself over the mess he’d made, knowing that at any moment he could still be saved, but refusing.

The angels watched and begged him to rise, wiping the still-flowing tears from their eyes. But he said, “No. I must suffer for what I have done.”

There in the mud, he turned away and covered his face with his hands as he prayed, “God forgive me for the terrible mess that I’ve made.”

The angels told him that he had already been forgiven and that this darkened wasteland was not a place he should try to live in.

There was a silence as he listened to how his ransom had been paid, how a Savior on a cross laid, how redemption was bought while angels wept.

The angels finished the story and saw in the young man’s eyes that he’d begun to realize that there was no reason for his self-proclaimed demise.

(To be concluded…)