Sunday, September 2, 2012

Yesterday, my husband spent all morning in the small town near our home. He used his chain saw to cut up a very, very large pecan tree that was struck by lightning last week. The tree split and fell to the ground. Because it was a hazard, it was going to be cut up and hauled away. Some would be thrown away and some used for firewood. But Charlie brought home large pieces of wood from the tree to use to make beautiful bowls and other wooden articles.



On our few acres in the country, next to our old farm house we have a large horse barn. Because Charlie and I don’t have horses, we turned one side of the barn into a storage room and Charlie built a workshop in the other side.


The outside of the barn is not much to look at. But the inside, where he works, is really an amazing place. It is where he creates works of art on his lathe, and where he cuts and prepares molding and trim to use in remodeling our old house. He has done a great job on the house, though the remodeling is going very slowly. That’s because the two of us are doing all the work ourselves.


Charlie calls his work place, “Redemption Workshop.” He chose that name because the tools and supplies used to build it were mostly discarded from other peoples’ projects. The excess lumber and roofing material from a new house nearby was thrown in a dumpster. Evidently laws restrict builders from using wood purchased for one project on another project, even though it is brand new lumber. So the extra supplies are normally thrown away, and either taken to the dump or burned…unless someone finds and redeems them. Charlie was able to rescue much of the lumber and tiles from the dumpster and use in his workshop.

Many of Charlie’s tools came from peoples’ trash because they were broken. Some were purchased at garage sales from people who had previously bought them and no longer had a use for them. He has spent much time rebuilding and repairing broken tools that people threw away. And with little money and a few part replacements, the tools work as good as new.

Redemption…to purchase back, ransom, rescue or liberate; to regain possession of a thing; to save. (1)

To redeem something that was once valuable and restore it to usefulness requires, first of all, vision to see beyond the present condition or circumstances. My husband has the ability to see “beyond!” He can look at an old piece of furniture and imagine what it would look like if it were repaired and restored. If complete restoration is not possible, he can envision how parts of it can be used to make something else beautiful… recycling it, if you please.

Redemption takes someone who will stop, consider, and is willing to see with a different perspective. It takes the ability to see potential that may not be obvious to the casual viewer.

To redeem something is often costly. It takes investment…investment of time, energy, and willingness to continue working until that object has been restored.

Perhaps redemption of an object or tool seems easier than the redemption of a person. But God’s heart is to redeem mankind. Redemption was so important to God that “…God gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people…” (Titus 2:14). And, that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believed in Him might have everlasting life
(John 3:16). God loves people and gave His own life for the purpose of redeeming them.

There are many people in the world that some would consider beyond repair, or worthless. Other people themselves feel that they have been abused, broken, and even discarded, disqualifying them from any future value, purpose or destiny. They spend their lives in hopelessness.

But redemption looks beyond. God see us, not as we are, and not as we see ourselves. He looks past the faults, the cracks, the broken places. He knows what caused the brokenness and He is able to bring healing. Not only can He bring healing, but His work will go beyond healing and turn the broken places into places of strength.

God sees potential. He knows the original design – His original plans and destinies for our lives. He knows what we can become. And He already knows how to heal and restore us to our original purpose. Out of His great creative power, and His amazing grace and love for each of us, He has already set in motion all that is needed for our redemption.


Will you enter God’s “Redemption Workshop” and allow Him to repair, rebuild and restore your life? Will you let Him make you into a vessel of honor? Will you yield to His plan and let Him chizel away what does not belong, and mold you into what He intended you to be?  He wants to. He is able. He is waiting with delight, knowing the vessel of beauty you can become in the hands of the Master Craftsman.

(1)  American Dictionary of The English Language Language, Noah Webster 1828, c 1967, Vol II 52.