I am so happy to report a restoration of my taste buds. I don’t have much of an appetite but at least what I do eat tastes. Restoration is a marvelous thing. So often we don’t appreciate what we have until it’s gone. Adam and Eve must have stood long at the gate of Eden and wondered if they would ever get to go back. They will because our God is a god of restoration. As Jesus moved across the hills of Galilee and through the narrow streets of Jerusalem He blazed a trail of restoration. Blind eyes opened, deaf ears heard, lepers with new fingers were just a few of the most astounding things He did. Right in Bethany, the suburbs of Jerusalem, He restored life itself to His friend Lazarus.
Restoration is the theme of the Gospels. Rebuilding lives, molding characters, forgiving sins, transforming less than reputable people into model people fills heaven with joy. Many of Jesus’ parables are about restoration. The lost and found coin, the lost and found sheep, the lost and found son was His message to lost humanity. These timeless stories cover the full spectrum of us. The coin was lost and didn’t know it. It was found. The sheep was lost and knew it but didn’t know its way home. It was found. The son was lost and he knew it. He came home.
The ultimate restoration is coming. Paul wrote, “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality,…” Now that’s the ultimate restoration.
Written by Roger Bothwell on July 23, 2013
Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org