Garage Sale Redemption
My son and daughter-in-law love to go to garage and estate sales. Most of the things they find would be classified as junk. The things they find in these sales are already on their way to the trash heap, but the owners set them out for others to sort through in hopes of making a little money from all that trash before it's taken away.
When my son stumbles across something that catches his eye, he rescues it from impending doom, negotiates a price with the owner, takes it home, and then converts it into something of value. Some of the items that he has restored have taken on a whole new life. These previously condemned sale items become very attractive decorations, retro furniture, or artistic knickknacks. All they needed was for someone to see the value in them, make the purchase, and restore them to their previous beauty.
Jesus did the same for us when He purchased us with His blood. Every one of us is already on the way to the eternal trash heap, but God sees the value in our worn out, damaged lives. He has chosen us, purchased us with Christ's shed blood, so that He can restore and transform us into something of infinite worth.
Without Christ, we are damaged goods and good for nothing, but we have been redeemed by a steep price. Because of this, and the infinite skill of the artist, the condemned sinner finds his true worth.
"You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:20).
I'll Gum Sin Into Perdition!
One of the most famous quotes attributed to evangelist Billy Sunday is “Listen, I'm against sin. I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot, I'll fight it as long as I've got a fist, I'll butt it as long as I've got a head, and I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth. And when I'm old, fistless, footless, and toothless, I'll gum it till I go home to glory and it goes home to perdition.”
We need to have this same relentless attitude in our own resistance to the temptations of sin.
"Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart" (2 Timothy 2:22).
The History of Booze in Space
According to Lauren Vogelbaum with HOW STUFF WORKS:
If you’ve ever suspected that some astronauts sneak a little bit of booze into space, you’re not wrong. A few tipples have even been state sanctioned.
Russian cosmonauts may have been the first to imbibe in orbit. According to Mir space station alum Alexander Lazutkin, cognac was part of cosmonauts’ rations dating back to the beginning of the Space Age. He said that their doctors recommended it to “stimulate our immune system and on the whole to keep our organisms in tone.” And Alexander Poleshchuk, stationed on Mir in 1993, once reported finding extra bottles squirrelled away on the space station.
Meanwhile, the earliest instance in NASA’s records is when Buzz Aldrin drank on the moon. No, it wasn’t an astro-frat party. Aldrin, an elder of the Webster Presbyterian church, brought small packets of communion bread and wine along with him. He partook of them in a nondenominational ceremony during the first few hours after Apollo 11 landed on the moon, though the event was never broadcast.
*Follow this link to discover lots of interesting details about the Buzz Aldrin communion
The first thing Buz Aldrin did on the moon was to sanctify that moment by taking communion! How cool is that? For the believer, everything is sanctified by the sacrifice of Christ. The first thing Noah did when he made land fall on a new world was to sanctify it by a sacrificial offering. And, no doubt, the first thing we will do in the New Heavens and the New Earth will be to sanctify it by commemorating the sacrifice of Christ.
There is a sense in which everyday presents us with a whole new world of possibilities and challenges. Before engaging that world, make sure you sanctify it by pausing to remember who has purchased you and at what price.
“And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:19-20).