Restoration

As recommended by HiScrivener!

As recommended by HiScrivener, I purchased Rob Bell’s “Velvet Elvis” and have been reading it for the past month. It really is a good read.  New perspectives are like different pairs of sunglasses. Each has a different color, some have U.V. protection, some have funky designs. But, all are used to look at the same world in different shades. Reading Bell’s stuff, I have obtained a pretty nifty pair of specs.

I read over something that (just about) morphed my understanding of what forgiveness is.

Forgiveness leads to something much bigger: restoration. God isn’t just interested in the covering our sins; God wants to make us into the people we were originally created to be[...] The point is becoming more and more the kind of people God had in mind when we were first created (108).

This takes his title of “Redeemer” to another level. God is not only a painter, but a restorer as well. Whenever a priceless piece of art is in need of restoration, the restorer will do his best to bring it back to all of its former glory. When we go to God for forgiveness, it is beyond ourselves. It is recognizing that our colors are faded. It is recognizing that we are cracking under the elements. It is realizing that you’ve taken a wrong turn and correcting your course for the good. It is handing over your life to someone who knows exactly how to fix it.

Once it is done, it is done. Your greens are more lush. Your blues are brighter. Your yellows shine in the light.

It is one thing to be forgiven; it is another thing to become more and more and more and more the person God made you to be (108).

Sometimes we think that we need to better our lives when, through God, it is not so. It’s just a matter of restoring it. It’s a matter of bringing the original piece of artwork back to its former and intended glory.

It reminds me of what Jon Erick told me that day in summer camp. “Make it real,” he said.

Make it real.

Forgiveness involves more than cleansing, it is becoming new. Again. Let God’s eternal paint and heavenly brushes paint you how he intended you to be. It is one thing to not sin and another to walk like Jesus (108).

I totally stole that last line, though. My apologies, Mr. Bell. I am enjoying your book this much.