REPLACE OR REPAIR?

Dear friends,
        When something around the house gets old, do you replace it or repair it? This month I decided to replace our scratched and worn Arizona bathroom and kitchen sinks. I did it myself, and without leaks. Amazing! I was also planning to replace our aging mini-blinds that were covered with desert dust, but before calling for an estimate I thought I’d try cleaning one. It was messy, but it turned out well enough that I decided it would be easier to clean rather than replace them all. After that first one I developed a method I thought I’d share with you.
        CLEANING DIRTY MINI-BLINDS: 1) Get a sprayer attachment for your shower head. 2) One at a time, take an extended blind into your bathtub. 3) Spray with spot remover and rinse with hot water, one side at a time. 4) Drain the blind and hang it outside to dry. 5) Clean the next blind, then put the dried blind back on its window. 6) Repeat cleaning and drying each mini-blind until done. (Warning: Husbands who do this may be nominated for sainthood.)
        God also faces decisions whether to repair or replace. The Bible tells us twice in history God saw so much sin and dirt among His people that He wanted to replace them. With all the evil before the Great Flood (Genesis 6-9), He did just that and started over with Noah’s family. The second time (Exodus 32), God was so disgusted with the Israelites’ worshipping the Golden Calf that He said to Moses, “Let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, that I may consume them; but I will make of you a great nation.”
        Moses objected, and God listened to his pleas for mercy and changed His mind. Instead of replacing them, He repaired them by making them drink “golden” water containing ground bits of their idol. The resulting mass stomach aches may have made the people wish He would have consumed them.
        Ever since the Garden of Eden, people have always found ways to dirty and ruin themselves through sin. God knew replacing mankind would have become an endless process, so He chose to repair His people, once and for all, through forgiveness in the death and resurrection of His Son. The Holy Spirit continually works for our repair by giving us saving faith and moving us to do good works.

Praise God that He chose repair of humanity rather than total replacement.
   
Rev. Bob Tasler
www.bobtasler.com