by Desiree Bustamante

Christ restores His people, no matter how broken they are.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

I’ve always admired those people who can look at an old, beat up car like this one, and decide it’s actually worth paying money for and hauling to their garage to take up space. They can see past the imperfections and have a vision of what this car could become—beautiful and shiny on the outside, with power and speed under the hood.

Some enthusiasts buy a car and, though they have good intentions, never finish or even begin the restoration. Other priorities get in the way, they run out of funds or lose their desire to do the work it takes to recreate the car’s past glory. Sometimes the job just gets too big to finish on their own as they run into unforeseen problems.

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
Titus 2:11-14 New Living Translation

Fortunately, Christ is our perfect mechanic. We are that beat up old rusty car. Our sin and brokenness has left us languishing in a junk yard of despair and decay. We are not worth anything as we are. Yet God saw through our garbage and knew what we could become through His love and grace. He redeemed us from the junk pile of condemnation with the blood of His son Jesus, restoring us to perfection through His resurrection and defeat of sin and Satan. He continues to invest in us, fine-tuning our souls while we run the race with strength, agility and resilience.

Christ’s victory will be ours, for He will be there at the finish line to welcome us to an eternity spent with Him in His heavenly kingdom.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado