Last week, Simon my editor told me he’d had a lousy morning. He’d been tracing a special vintage motorcycle, one he wanted to restore. As the trail narrowed, anticipation grew. I could see his vision of what a little love and a lot of elbow grease could do with that particular bike. But when he finally found the most recent owner, he received the bad news; the bike had been taken to the dump over a year ago.
Can you identify? He must have felt just as we would if a precious possession had been dropped off a cliff. He could see it disappearing out of his grasp and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.
I felt Simon’s disappointment with him. Besides, there’s a unique joy in restoring something back to new condition. And instead of adding to the pollution in the environment, restorers make meaningful contributions.
Later in the day, I thought about this throwaway generation that we live in. While some would feel repulsion at the thought, a few trips to the local trash bin has furnished a home for some who otherwise may never get beyond using cardboard boxes.
Cars, appliances, clothes, you name it, are not always worthless before they are treated that way. But affluence and easy-come, easy go makes the mounds of throwaways higher and higher.
Unfortunately, human lives sometimes are tossed aside too. Sometimes that life is an unwanted baby, or it could be a mentally or physically handicapped person. It might be a “fallen women” or a man who fell into the gutter somewhere and can’t get out.
Unfortunately, the human trash heap includes anyone that other people feel have no value, no purpose, or no potential. They are the ones that many of us tend to put on our “avoid this creature” list.
I wonder how God feels about lives that are tossed in the garbage. Does He feel their rejection? Of course He does. He has been rejected. Does He think about them the same way society often does? Not at all!
The good news is that God is in the restoration business. He sent Jesus Christ to “seek and to save that which was lost” … or tossed. That includes those whom no one else wants or will have anything to do with. In Jesus’ day, it was the prostitutes, the publicans (“traitorous” Jewish tax collectors working for Rome) and an assorted group of people simply called “sinners.”
Jesus said He came to seek these rejects, and when He ‘‘found” them, He loved them. The Bible says He was ‘‘the friend of sinners,” yet He did more than eat and drink with them. His saving power restored any who placed their faith in Him. They were given peace, joy, and the sure hope of eternal life, as well as a useful and purposeful life here on earth for God.
Ephesians 2:10 says that those who trust in Christ are “His workmanship, created in Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
When Simon finds an old motorcycle, he carefully cleans and restores each piece, remaking parts if necessary. Then he puts the whole bike back together with infinite care. The engine is tuned to purr-fection, the leather polished, and the paint bright and shiny. No one would even know that this sleek machine was once a cast-off, even if it came from a trash heap.
Jesus says. “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are gone, the new has come” ...that (sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, prostitutes, homosexual offenders, thieves, those guilty of greed, drunkards, slanderers, swindlers) is “what some of you were, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
In other words, unlike Simon’s latest disappointment, the human trash heap does not have to be the end. The Lord can do the job beautifully, no matter who has tossed us aside, and no matter what condition He finds us.
Showing posts with label lost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lost. Show all posts
Friday, August 8, 2014
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Finding life's direction ...................... Parables 120
Without a compass, it is impossible to maintain a sense of direction in Fort Saskatchewan - not that a person can’t figure it out from time to time. At noon, the sun is directly south, unless of course we are on daylight saving time. Then it is south at 11:00 a.m. At night, the north star at the tail end of the little dipper is approximately north, that is if you can find the north star and if the sky is clear enough to see stars.
Once a person knows the directions, the next trick is maintaining them. I once knew a man that claimed if anyone blindfolded him and spun him around several times, when he stopped spinning he could “dead-reckon” any given direction without removing the blindfold. I would like to test him - take him from my house in Pineview to the Mall downtown, with or without blinders, and see if he knows which way is which . . . or even how to get back home, for that matter!
As my dad says, this city is “cattiwumpus” with the world. It doesn’t’ always line up north and south, east and west. Even right and left are tricky with some of the curved streets. I gave up on exact directions a long time ago. Now I just follow the streets and know (most of the time) that they will take me where I want to go.
But finding the way becomes more complex when I try to direct a newcomer. My instructions must be clear, easy to follow and accurate. Then the other person must trust them (and me) and read them right -- or find out it is possible to wander around lost in Pineview for an hour or more!
Then there is that other journey we take . . . through life. Certainly we need a compass to chart our course. Once we decide where we want to go, the path is seldom straight or clearly marked with signs and signals.
About 17 years ago, I realized that I was lost. I didn’t know for certain where I was going, much less how to get there. My so-called sense of direction proved unreliable. I began searching for something to guide me when Jesus confronted me, challenging me with His claim: “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me.”
Of course I wanted the ultimate destination He spoke of, eternity with God, therefore accepted Him as the Way. However, once I did that, the trials of life still spin me round and round sometimes, or I miss the proper turn and wonder if I am still going the right direction.
To make matters worse, life doesn’t always line up with my expectations. His way sometimes seems a contradiction to my own sense of direction. When that happens, He reminds me how easy it is to become more lost and confused by relying on dead reckoning and driving down roads and taking turns that “seem” right. (Proverbs even says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of that way is death.”)
He also reminds me that following His Way is much like going downtown. If I follow 99th Avenue, I will eventually reach city center because that is where 99th goes. In life, if I follow Jesus (my way, my truth, and my life), I will reach my eternal destination because that is where Jesus will take me.
I can’t maintain my sense of direction without my Living compass. He is always there, faithful to direct my steps, able to lead me along. He is Himself the Way to follow, the Truth to believe in, and the Life that makes this journey full of hope and certainty.
Once a person knows the directions, the next trick is maintaining them. I once knew a man that claimed if anyone blindfolded him and spun him around several times, when he stopped spinning he could “dead-reckon” any given direction without removing the blindfold. I would like to test him - take him from my house in Pineview to the Mall downtown, with or without blinders, and see if he knows which way is which . . . or even how to get back home, for that matter!
As my dad says, this city is “cattiwumpus” with the world. It doesn’t’ always line up north and south, east and west. Even right and left are tricky with some of the curved streets. I gave up on exact directions a long time ago. Now I just follow the streets and know (most of the time) that they will take me where I want to go.
But finding the way becomes more complex when I try to direct a newcomer. My instructions must be clear, easy to follow and accurate. Then the other person must trust them (and me) and read them right -- or find out it is possible to wander around lost in Pineview for an hour or more!
Then there is that other journey we take . . . through life. Certainly we need a compass to chart our course. Once we decide where we want to go, the path is seldom straight or clearly marked with signs and signals.
About 17 years ago, I realized that I was lost. I didn’t know for certain where I was going, much less how to get there. My so-called sense of direction proved unreliable. I began searching for something to guide me when Jesus confronted me, challenging me with His claim: “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me.”
Of course I wanted the ultimate destination He spoke of, eternity with God, therefore accepted Him as the Way. However, once I did that, the trials of life still spin me round and round sometimes, or I miss the proper turn and wonder if I am still going the right direction.
To make matters worse, life doesn’t always line up with my expectations. His way sometimes seems a contradiction to my own sense of direction. When that happens, He reminds me how easy it is to become more lost and confused by relying on dead reckoning and driving down roads and taking turns that “seem” right. (Proverbs even says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of that way is death.”)
He also reminds me that following His Way is much like going downtown. If I follow 99th Avenue, I will eventually reach city center because that is where 99th goes. In life, if I follow Jesus (my way, my truth, and my life), I will reach my eternal destination because that is where Jesus will take me.
I can’t maintain my sense of direction without my Living compass. He is always there, faithful to direct my steps, able to lead me along. He is Himself the Way to follow, the Truth to believe in, and the Life that makes this journey full of hope and certainty.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Lost? ................................ Parables 052
Have you ever been lost? ... when all sense of direction eluded you, and you did not know how to go from where you were to where you wanted to be? ... and you had no idea where you were at? You kept telling yourself, “Don’t lose your head... you’ll be okay.” But the knots came in the pit of your stomach and panic threatened to overcome all your logic.
Frightening feeling isn’t it? A couple of years ago we made one wrong turn off a freeway in Los Angeles, and we didn’t have any idea what city we were in, or what way to go. Happily, we could stop and ask someone, or look at the street signs and compare them to our map.
Being lost outdoors in the wilderness on a hunting or hiking trip where there are no people to ask, is even more frightening. After a while the trees and rocks all look the same. Our pounding hearts wonder, “Am I alone in this, or is anyone looking for me?”
Children often get lost, without even knowing it. They wander away from their parents, oblivious to the separation, and drift to the toy department, after the puppy on the beach, or whatever. Taken up with what grabbed their interest, they are unaware that mom and dad are even looking for them, at least until they are found.
Spiritually, there is the condition of being lost. The Bible says that “We like sheep have all gone astray, everyone has turned to his own way...”
All have wandered from the Father. We were born that way, adrift from His will, not interested in walking with Him, and are therefore excluded from the heavenly home that He desires to share with us for eternity.
Like the physically lost, some may know their condition. Perhaps there is panic inside, and an effort to convince themselves that “I’ll be okay.” Yet deep inside, the questions nag, “Am I alone? Does anyone care?”
Others are not aware that they are lost from God. They are so caught up in the “toy departments” of life that their separation from Him goes unnoticed. Aware or not, God’s Word confirms that the lost cannot, and will not, find their way to Him by themselves.
Thankfully, He is not oblivious to our condition. He knows where we are, even before we know ourselves, and He knows we need His help to get out of the “wilderness.” So He sent Jesus Christ “to seek and to save those who are lost”, and to declare “I am the way... no man comes to the Father but through me.” His Son is the rescuer - as well as the way home.
If you have ever been physically lost, you know what joy you had when you were at last safe. The fears and questions were over, and you relaxed in the comfort of being home.
The spiritually lost are also invited to experience peace and joy - by the Lord of the lost sheep, Jesus Christ, as He reaches out to find us and show us that He is the Way to the Father. Eventually He will lead those who take hold of Him in faith to their heavenly home, where there will be no more questions and no more fears.
Frightening feeling isn’t it? A couple of years ago we made one wrong turn off a freeway in Los Angeles, and we didn’t have any idea what city we were in, or what way to go. Happily, we could stop and ask someone, or look at the street signs and compare them to our map.
Children often get lost, without even knowing it. They wander away from their parents, oblivious to the separation, and drift to the toy department, after the puppy on the beach, or whatever. Taken up with what grabbed their interest, they are unaware that mom and dad are even looking for them, at least until they are found.
Spiritually, there is the condition of being lost. The Bible says that “We like sheep have all gone astray, everyone has turned to his own way...”
All have wandered from the Father. We were born that way, adrift from His will, not interested in walking with Him, and are therefore excluded from the heavenly home that He desires to share with us for eternity.
Like the physically lost, some may know their condition. Perhaps there is panic inside, and an effort to convince themselves that “I’ll be okay.” Yet deep inside, the questions nag, “Am I alone? Does anyone care?”
Others are not aware that they are lost from God. They are so caught up in the “toy departments” of life that their separation from Him goes unnoticed. Aware or not, God’s Word confirms that the lost cannot, and will not, find their way to Him by themselves.
Thankfully, He is not oblivious to our condition. He knows where we are, even before we know ourselves, and He knows we need His help to get out of the “wilderness.” So He sent Jesus Christ “to seek and to save those who are lost”, and to declare “I am the way... no man comes to the Father but through me.” His Son is the rescuer - as well as the way home.
If you have ever been physically lost, you know what joy you had when you were at last safe. The fears and questions were over, and you relaxed in the comfort of being home.
The spiritually lost are also invited to experience peace and joy - by the Lord of the lost sheep, Jesus Christ, as He reaches out to find us and show us that He is the Way to the Father. Eventually He will lead those who take hold of Him in faith to their heavenly home, where there will be no more questions and no more fears.
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