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By David A. Sargent
    Larry Morganti of Florence, South Carolina, is a Vietnam War Veteran.  He served in the 311th Squadron of the Air Force as a crew chief on a C-123 cargo plane from October 1967 to October 1968.  While serving in that capacity, Morganti lost his “dog tag” – a metal piece of identification for military personnel – during a rocket attack.  Thankfully, even though he lost his military ID, Morganti survived the war.    Over two years ago, Morganti’s dog tag came into the possession of a Swedish construction worker, Kristoffer Hansen.  A friend from Vietnam had discovered the dog tag with his metal detector and sent it to Hansen to add to his collection of military memorabilia.  Recognizing that there was a good chance that its owner was still alive, Hansen began looking for Morganti.  He found him two years later through Facebook.    Last month, Morganti received his dog tag in the mail along with a letter from Hansen thanking him for his service.    “It was real surprising. In fact, for a second, I didn’t believe it,” Morganti told WPDE. “It’s such a far-fetched idea to find tags 56 years old and then another two years to bring them to me.” *    YOU may be surprised to learn that God is looking for you to give you a new identity.    You and every other person in the world have been created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27).  Each of us has marred that image due to our sin (Romans 3:23), and sin has separated us from our Creator (Isaiah 59:1-2).    But God loves us so much that He wants us to be reconciled to Him so that each of us can be a part of His family and have a new identity: child of God.    To be reconciled to God, our debt of sin had to be paid.  God gave His Son Jesus to pay the price for our redemption.  Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we can be forgiven and be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).    “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).    God will save, add to His family, and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).    The Apostle Paul wrote to Christians in Galatia: “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27 NIV).    In Christ, we have a new identity that brings with it eternal blessings.  We are children of God.    “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1 NIV).    YOU can be a child of God if you will accept His offer on His terms.

David A. Sargent, minister for the Church of Christ at Creekwood in Mobile, Alabama, is also the editor of an electronic devotional entitled "Living Water." To learn more about this excellent resource contact David via their website: http://www.creekwoodcc.org