All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…Isaiah 64:6a
An eighty year-old friend of mine told me of a cruel joke her older siblings would play on her when she was a little girl in order to prove their dominance. They told her they were going to give her to the “rag man”.
She explained a man came through the streets with a horse-drawn carriage collecting old rags and other broken down items people no longer wanted. He was the precursor to the junkman. Her brothers and sisters were in essence telling her she was junk and unwanted.
Growing up in the 1960’s, it was common to see bumper stickers proclaiming that “God doesn’t make junk.” That’s true. But we no longer live is the Garden of Eden. Sin has invaded our world and seeped into our lives. Hate to say it folks, but when our humanistic society tells us that we are all essentially good inside, it is lying. We are not. One of the first things babies learn to do is manipulate others, think of “me” first, and tell falsehoods.
We are junk, but that doesn’t mean we are not wanted. God wants nothing more than to restore us back to priceless. He has bought us from the rag man through His own death for our sake and washed our filthy rags to become garments of pure white. He make us sinless…over and over again. Jesus paid the price to buy us back on the cross when God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2Corinthians 5:21
What does that mean?
Perhaps you once played with a commercially made Raggedy Ann or Andy — the cloth
courtesy of peskybombolino
dolls with a red heart painted on their chests. Originally homemade rag dolls were sewn from leftover clothes, odd buttons and whatever stuffing was around the house. But the cool thing? Each was unique. Each took time and imagination to create. Each came from junk and were transformed into a gift of beauty by the labor of love.
God can take whatever has become ragged and junky in our lives due to sin and make it into something good and of worth. We will never be thrown into the pit or garbage pile once we agree to become His child. His love for us makes Him pursue us so eventually, even if we fight it, we will yield to His restoration process.
No one likes change. It can be scary. But God loves us enough to accept us as we are yet, in spite of our raggedness, still wants to change us into His likeness– stitch by stitch, just like the rag doll.
So climb onto the rag man’s cart. God is not finished with you yet. Deliver yourself into the hands of the Master and watch your beauty being restored from the inside out. It may take a while, perhaps a lifetime. But God is a patient, slow to anger, and compassionate. (Psalm 103:8-9)
I’m another rags to riches story in the making. How about you?
I was asked, what is the one thing in your closet you should probably throw out? If anyone else rummaged through my clothes, they’d most likely choose the ratty ol’ black sweater. It’s faded, a bit threadbare, and stretched out of shape. But it still hangs in my closet…for a reason.
Lately my life has been a grouping of blotches. Things are muddled, not really in focus. Reading a Bible lesson a few days ago, one verse suddenly appeared in bold and a larger font in my mind. “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” (John 13:7)
You want to pull it, but you know you shouldn’t. That dangling thread on the seam of your clothes is bugging you. Does that describe your life?
dangling thread lest it unravel us. Hope, bolstered by prayer, is the best way to re-anchor our faith. We need to allow our Lord to be the needle which can guide the wayward thread and knot it so it doesn’t affect the rest of the hem that is our life.
When my mother was a child, it came out to the second tuft of branches you see, the ones hanging down toward the water by the backdrop of the white cement of the “old dock”. When I was a child, it had grown to the length of the third tufts, right under where you see the blue raft perched on the dock. When my son was a child, it had grown to the little notch before it bows up again. He is now in his thirties.
If it is on us, then perhaps it is why we seem to fall short each year. After all, Paul reminds us that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
Perhaps, instead of focusing on how we should change, become more aware, adjust our weight, habits, etc. we need to shift our focus to the Cross. Not rely on our own strength, or even ask God to give us strength, but for Him to be our strength. May we choose to be other-orientated and open to being used to His glory. Let God set the path, and be pliable enough to be molded in the way He wishes so we can be His hands and feet in this world and point others to Him, not ourselves.
Perhaps the grackle saw it’s reflection in the sunscreen-filmed glass, or maybe a juicy bug crawled up the door. I couldn’t be sure. But the bird pecked on the door then waddled back a few steps, cocked its head, and once again approached and pecked the glass.
In our worship, right before we receive communion, there is a prayer in which we tell our Lord we know we are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under His table, but He always draws us near in mercy. It is in reference to the Canaanite woman who boldly told Jesus even dogs get crumbs from the master’s table. (Matthew 15:27) Jesus commended her for her faith and answered her prayer. It reminds us worshipers that we also are in need of mercy but must have the bold faith to ask for it.
Like a mowed field…
Sometimes, does not out precious Lord do the same for us? This week, a group of authors were mowed down – now we will be more lush and perhaps a bit stronger in our faith. I know soon we will all blossom in ways we never imagined.
I downloaded a solitaire card game onto my computer. Each day it has a “win-able” hand you can choose to play. But often times, there are multiple choices. Move the card to the wrong stack or the wrong stack to a blank space and you might get stuck. Then a message pops up. “This is a winning hand. Do you want to replay or be shown how to win?” Most times, I choose replay. I want to figure it out for myself. A few times, I have ended up exasperated enough that I let the computer show me how to win.
overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). His mercy is newly provided every morning. (Lamentations 3:23) He will restore my life. (Psalm 17:20).
One letter can make all the difference. Today, while playing Word with Friends, I noticed two words with total opposite meanings separated by one small letter – “R”.
An old hymn sings of what a friend we have in Jesus. He wants us to take the “r” into our world so we can respect, regard and then develop relationships with our fellow human beings for one purpose: so we can lead others to another “r” – redemption. That way, we will become eternally friends.
Where Did You Find God Today? 