My wife Cathy and I always tried to make sure that our home was a place where our kids and their friends could hang out. We had a system – as long as our garage door was open, our kids’ friends were free to come in. They didn’t even have to knock.
We kept the refrigerator stocked with cans of pop for them to drink. In Michigan, those cans were redeemable for 10 cents. So, every now and then, we’d take a bunch of sticky, crumpled, ant-attracting pop cans down to the grocery store and put them into this machine. The machine would take our cans and give us back cash. In that process of redemption, those thrown-away cans would again have use and value.
A similar thing happens to us when God redeems us. He puts us through a process. He restores value, meaning, and purpose to our lives. That redemption might not always look like we imagine. When Jesus came, He confused His disciples by not restoring Israel to a position of military and political dominance. But nevertheless, He redeems us. He takes our broken pieces, the parts of ourselves we try to hide, and He assigns them value in His economy.
What has God redeemed in you that now He wants to use to advance His work of redemption for the whole world? Remember: God can’t do something through you until He has done something in you.
Not one of us is perfect, but we all have great value if we place ourselves in God’s hands. I invite you to see how He might redeem and use every part of your life to also help redeem others. Learn how today at prisonfellowship.org.