We had a man come into my place of work the
other day and he immediately said, “I want to talk with the store manager”. The
store manager wasn't available for awhile, so he told me his problem. It seems
he had bought a lawnmower a little over a year ago and it just blew the engine.
He wanted the store to give him a new one or credit towards a more expensive
mower. In other words, to redeem the broken one and make it new in some
way...that was a problem…
When the manager arrived he explained that the
store policy is that we will refund or replace up to 60 days on mowers, but the
manufacturer has a one year warranty (which was also past). I thought the
manager did a good job of explaining all of this very patiently, but it was a
problem with no cheap answer to make it right. I mean, that which regulates the
transaction and responsibilities was clearly spelled out in the papers they
were given…so what do you do?
This is similar to the problem each of us have
today isn't it? We as humans are broken and unfixable by human standards. Each
of us has the problem of sin in our lives. It may not be a BIG easily
recognizable sin, but to God, sin is sin. If you don't obey his rules, then you
can't be fixed. God's word tells us that all of us sin and fall short of God's Glory,
(Romans 3:23). While we are told in 1John 1:7-10 that anyone who says they don't sin is
calling God a liar and that His Word is really not part of their lives. That is
a problem isn't it, because sin separates us form the source of life
(eternally) God himself. When we sin, we are responsible for the cost for the
damage to our lives, which is impossible for us to pay.
Fortunately, when God wrote his rules, he
wrote in a redemption clause, an escape clause if you will. It's spelled out
clearly in his rule book (the Bible) in more than one place. Places like Mark 16:15-16 and Romans 6:1-10.
We are told that the redemption we can experience is not dependent upon our own
ability, but upon the willingness of Christ to pay what was necessary for us.
What was required was a payment in blood; a payment of sacrifice; a payment of
suffering to fix what you broke and for which you were responsible. He paid the
debt he did not own, because he loves you that much! In return he asks the you
obey him and commit to living by His rules to the best of your ability.
Now the man who came into our store was helped
with his problem. We actually gave him a loner mower until he could check with
the manufacturer. Redeemed or fixed no; we were just kind of able to put a
bandage on the sore spot in hopes he can get it fixed properly some place else.
--Russ Lawson
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