Have you ever collected “stamps” from the grocery store? You know the kind that if you fill in the card and you can earn a new frying pan? I remember those pink stamps when I was a kid from Middleton’s Supermarket in Galena Park, Texas. I don’t know if my Mom ever saved them and turned them in, but there were always some floating around in her purse. I never really thought about why people would collect them because kids just don’t think about those things.
All these years later I think about those stamps. I see them handed out at the grocery store I frequent and have collected them and earned a great pan. Pretty neat….you collect and redeem. All you had to do was turn in your card and you received something new and shiny.
I think everyone, everything and every situation can be “redeemed”.
A yucky pumpkin that is banged up and misshapen may not make a great Jack-O-Lantern, but if you scoop out the inside you can sure roast some great pumpkin seeds. That sad pumpkin was redeemed.
A person who is fighting addiction can turn their life around, fight the addiction and use their life to make a difference. They have been redeemed.
A bad situation can only stay a bad situation if you refuse to find something positive in the entirety of it. It’s not that the truth about what happened will not be shared, but maybe it’s because you share the truth and someone hears your story that the situation is redeemed. Someone learned because of your hardship and maybe things will turn out a little bit better for them.
My son’s difficulties in his care at times were a complete nightmare, but what I know now is that it may have been because a new treatment for his situation is being discovered. It won’t take away what he went through, but it just may help another little boy allergic to Factor VIII not have the troubles that my brave little boy went through. His situation has been redeemed.
And the most amazing story of redemption of all time is when God sent his only son, the Messiah, Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for each of us. We have been redeemed because of the gift that has been given to us.
When all else fails and I am at a loss for words or don’t have a clue what to do I hang on to one of the most important scriptures that I have ever studied.
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1 (NIV)
Thank you so much, God, for not holding my bad choices and situation against me. There is no telling what I have yet to do that will not be pleasing in Christ, but regardless I know you have redeemed me because you love me. It blows my mind, Lord, that you can love me despite the yuck in my past and what is to come. I want to live a life that shines your truth and every day you give me is a day I will give it my best. Amen.
Today I Am Thankful For
- Bookmarks
- Tangerines
- The last brownie
- Stepping out of the box
- Winning a fight with depression
