In April 1865, an unexpected figure knocked on the door of the Richmond, Virginia home of former Confederate General George Pickett. “Mrs. General Pickett” was surprised to see Abraham Lincoln standing at her door, seeking her husband. When he learned General Pickett was not home, Lincoln asked for Mrs. Pickett.

She said, “I am George Pickett’s wife, sir.”

He answered, “And I am Abraham Lincoln.”

“The President?”
“No, Abraham Lincoln, George’s old friend.”

After kissing her baby, “Little George,” Lincoln said, “Little George, tell your father, the  rascal, that I forgive him for the sake of your mother’s sweet smile and your bright eyes” (C. Brian Kelly, Best Little Stories from the Civil War, p. 252).

Historians have often wondered how the healing of our nation after the Civil War might have been altered if Lincoln had not been assassinated shortly after this incident, in light of his forgiving attitude to the vanquished, his enemies.

Jesus Christ is our “blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of Lords: (1 Timothy 6:15). Surely He is worthy of our praise and worship, prostrate before Him. But rather than demanding our worship, He says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne” (Revelation 3:20–21).

I realize I have lived in rebellion before God. “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life” (Romans 5:7–10).

Christ our King tells us, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:13–14). I do not have to fear death because of my “old Friend,” who promised, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32). And that is good news!