“He has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace.” (2 Timothy 1:9 NIV)
My dad used to recycle bread bags. Yep, you read that right. Breadbags. He was a child of a depression-era widower and bread bags had a whole lot of life left in them after the loaf was eaten. I can still picture Dad at the kitchen sink, carefully rinsing out the crumbs, inverting the bags and hanging them on slightly-ajar cabinets all over our kitchen. Dad used bread bags instead of ziplocks, saran wrap and rubbermaid. Breadbags could be repurposed quickly into icepacks, golashes or kitchen gloves. We used them to clean the catbox, pick up trash or anything else my dad could come up with. In my dad’s mind, these bread bags were far too useful to throw away after serving just one purpose!
Today I read Paul’s words to Timothy and I recognize a couple truths. First off, we notice a connection between salvation and holiness. Holiness is our appropriate response to salvation. Just as a dried-out drunk doesn’t drink, a saved soul doesn’t sin. We are transformed. Pulled back from the brink and repurposed for divine use.
I think of the bread bags again. My dad saved them; he went through the meticulous effort involved in washing and drying them out. He got to determine their future usage. Similarly, our God has gone to great lengths to clean us up and dry us out from sin. He gets to determine how He wants to use us. This second life, this salvation story is all His. We’re just another bread bag. It’s His ownership of us and intention that makes us extraordinary.
“Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not give up. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly, we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:1-2 NIV)
We have a mission – the ministry – because of God’s mercy. We move according to His good instruction out of gratitude and eagerness to share His truth with others.
Lord, You alone are Creator-Savior. You determine our best use after salvation. We surrender to Your reassignment, just glad to be in the hands of a holy God. Have your way. Amen.