Are You Just a Souvenir?
Our family has done some travelling over the years to many different national parks. Each time we go, we obtain some memento of our visit. The tourist industry accommodates this desire by supplying numerous souvenirs at overpriced amounts. Not too long ago, I visited my parents. My mother had set out an assortment of such memorabilia. Among them was a number of souvenir playing cards that had never been opened. Can you imagine being bought, taken home, and sorted away just to sit around and never be used? It seems that this is rather commonplace to our society.
How great is it that God does not do that with us? Jesus Christ died on the cross and shed His blood to purchase us to God (Acts 20:28). He has graciously taken us into His home, the family of God, the church of Christ (1 John 3:1). He has done this NOT to file us away but to use us to His glory. Paul wrote, “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20). He also wrote, “[Jesus] gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14). The church is not a pack of useless playing cards packed away with other memorabilia never to see the light of day again. God did not buy us for that reason. He bought us so that we could be used for His glory and be zealous for good works. Let’s not be useless souvenirs, but useful citizens in God’s kingdom.
God bless you, and I love you.
Kevin Cauley