

[God] made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. (Ephesians 2:4)
Many things that vacationers and tourists once threw away: paper products, glass bottles, plastic and metal containers are now reprocessed for further use. We call this treatment “recycling.” The appearance of our environment benefits from the removal of empty containers, to say nothing of conserving our dwindling natural resources.
God’s way of restoring sinful man to a new life can be called recycling. Sin always uses up, ruins, and destroys the person living in it. But God does not want to see the waste of human beings whom He once made in His image. He has no pleasure in the death of anyone. He is not willing that any should perish.
We are all sinners – by nature and by what we think, say, and do. Left to ourselves we would be lost. Our presence in this world would do nothing to brighten up the scene, to improve the environment.
So God, the great Recycler, goes into action. He converts sinners. He takes those who are dead in trespasses and sins and makes them alive and new in Jesus Christ. In the words of the prophet: “[He] will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 11:19). What a heart transplant!
Jesus Christ died for all, so that all human beings might be recycled for a life of service to God.
PRAYER: O God, create in us a new heart and renew our spirit through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.
(Taken from “Our Journey with Jesus,” (out of print), copyright 1976, International Lutheran Laymen’s League.)
Today's Bible Readings: Psalms 116-118 1 Thessalonians 4
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