The Rescue Mission

In the old, run-down part of our city’s downtown area, a mission opened. A store front dressed part of the building, and a decision was made to open a thrift store in order to offset the rent on the property.

Our District Women’s Ministries Leader called a meeting of representatives from each church in the area. Volunteers were solicited and commissioned to work on assigned days. I became a volunteer.

I took this commitment seriously. Of all the days to work, one of my volunteer days fell on my Birthday. I went just the same. My sister came all the way downtown to give me a gift, and remarked teasingly, “What a way to celebrate your birthday!” We all laughed.

That same day, the director of the mission planned to load up a lot of the furniture from the upstairs rooms and take it to the dump. His assessment was that it was very old and needed to be replaced with new furniture for the live-in workers. My mind raced! No, I couldn’t let that happen! I told him, “Wait a minute. That is not a good idea. That furniture could be worth a lot of money!”

I immediately asked to view the furniture in question. He took me on a tour. Even through the dirt and grime, I could see several pieces that would go well in my home. I gave him a nice offer and he was ecstatic. What a find! I, too, was delighted with my special Birthday present – almost antique furniture. Ultimately, these pieces were refinished and gorgeous. They were set in places of honor in our home.

With the rest of the furniture, I suggested that we should be wise to advertise. The result was that most of the furniture was sold at a nice profit leaving the director very happy.

Some things we might picture as junk, whereas another person will take that same item and place a tremendous value on it. The eye of the beholder will determine its worth.

Often, we may judge a person who has had a difficult life, as worthless and simply lost. Even as we look at ourselves, we may feel unworthy and unlovable, but that is not the way God sees us.

When God considers any of us, He places remarkable value on each individual. In His analysis of mankind, we were all worthy of death, but He could not allow that to happen - - with out giving us a choice. God loved His creation and determined that man was worth saving. That is the reason Jesus volunteered to go on a “Mission” of redemption. His death on the Cross was extremely costly in order to pay for our sin, and His resurrection was to insure us of Eternal Life.

Neither you nor I are an object to discard and send to the dump! In God’s eye, we are something worthy to redeem, to refinish and make beautiful, and then to be set in a place of honor!

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.