RESTORATION

    

     Last Sunday, I got to preach again at First Southern Baptist Church in Holiday Island. I used Ephesians 4:11-12 as the text “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
          While I was preparing my sermon, I ran across an interesting translation of the word “perfecting.” It can also be translated as “preparing.” This I knew.
          What I didn’t know was the Greek word used also has the same meaning as “setting a bone; mending a net.” I traced the word to a passage from Matthew 4:21, where Jesus comes across James and John who are mending their nets.”
          And I remembered an old bamboo fly rod that my uncle had given to me. It is in sad shape; the tip is curved and all the eyes need to be repaired. The whole thing needs to be . . . mended. 
          Years ago, I met my uncle when I was 5. Soon after, my mother had some sort of falling out with her family and it was another 35 years before I got to see him again. I went to visit with him in upper central Michigan. He lived outside a small town on a plot of land where the hunting and fishing was very good.
          One evening, he excused himself and went out to his barn. He came back with the fly rod. He said it wasn’t very good, but he would like for me to have it. I accepted, gladly. That was almost 35 years ago.
          It’s time for me to “mend” that rod.
          And it’s like that with God. We all are in need of spiritual “mending.” We may have been tucked away in a “barn” of neglect, too busy to focus on our relationship with God. But God hasn’t forgotten us. God is just waiting for us to shake the dust off ourselves and look to Him to be mended.
          So, I’ll begin the long, arduous process of “mending” that rod. I’ll remove the eyes, scrape all the old varnish off, sand it smooth, re-wrap the eyes and re-varnish it. And one day, the Lord willing, I’ll catch a nice fish with it.
          May God mend us all! Doug

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Welcome!

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