Tarnished Treasures: A Story of Redemption

My husband Doug and I have been enjoying our weekends with lots of refreshing Bible study and reflection. We just can’t seem to take it in fast enough, hungrily researching Hebrew words, teaching, and unraveling mysteries.  Every question causes us to dive in to read verses and search out the original intent of the Scriptures, like uncovering pearls from the sands that have been under our feet all along, just waiting to be discovered.  

This wonderful seeking process is adding layer upon layer of fresh understanding and insight. Though we've been believers for over 40 years, we were still overshadowed by many boxes of theology and some errors of translation that we wore like colored lenses over our eyes. There were a lot of contradictions floating around like dust bunnies under the bed, and we needed answers.

For one thing, how should we celebrate the Sabbath? Are we doing this God's way or not? Scripture teaches the heart of the matter is to cease from work and put God first, even during plowing season. Spend time with family, teach them, study, and keep the time sacred for spiritual growth and renewal.

Out of the blue I decided I wanted to set a nice table and put out my finest for a time of celebration out of love and joy for what I’m feeling, for Yahovah! I remembered my lovely silver candlesticks, napkin rings, a silver bowl and goblet that I’ve had for many years. The candlesticks were tucked away in the dining room hutch, and the mug was standing on my dresser, fairly neglected, full of cotton swabs. It wasn’t even pretty to look at, dulled and blackened with age.

So on Sunday afternoon while the Pats played the Chiefs, I found an old tin of silver polish and gathered my tarnished items and rags, turning an otherwise idle time into a session of great usefulness. We not only watched the game, but we watched a glistening transformation before our eyes—from dull and black to glorious and gleaming! Just look at these before and after pictures! 

Piece by piece, I polished as we cheered for a suspenseful and exciting football match all the way to an incredible victory. I also reveled in the remarkable workmanship coming back to life in my hands. The gleaming silver seemed appropriate for a celebration.
  

Then it hit me. This beautiful unveiling of old treasures depicted what we were experiencing in our spiritual lives. We're pulling some old concepts out of the darkened corners of our minds and re-examining them. Polishing, enhancing, and adding value and appreciation, we're breathing new life into things thought unuseful.

Of course I thought I was keeping the Big Ten (commandments), and felt that I did honor the God who created them in my heart. However, I never celebrated His appointed feasts, and the Sabbath? Well, I went to church on Sunday mornings. Everything after that was a pretty much a shoddy mishmash of pagan influences and customs I didn’t pay much attention to. I was content with my comfortable routines. 

But I felt convicted about that 4^th commandment to honor the Sabbath and keep it holy on the 7^th day. So explicit! How come I've overlooked that little directive about the day and assumed God would understand? Then I remembered Cain, bringing vegetables to sacrifice and presuming it would be good enough for God. Gee, that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. And if you recall, it didn't go well for Cain. God didn't change his mind! 

A light bulb began to shine. The church has been deceived like Eve, lured down a long highway paved with Satan’s lies and schemes, one upon another, until everything God said so clearly in the beginning was gradually substituted or justified by something else! 

“These are my appointed feasts,” God said about Passover, Pentacost and Tabernacles, but we chose Christmas and Easter. "That was for Israel!" But aren't we grafted into Israel? Don't we want the blessings that go along with obedience? Why do we include ourselves with Israel's blessings, and dismiss ourselves with everything else?  

“The seventh day you shall rest and do no work,” God said, but the devil tricked us into further disobedience. The first day is better, he cooed. You have to be separate from the Jews! And how many times did God say that He wants us to be one, Jew and Gentile? Are there two sets of rules for the one family of God? 

Our Messiah found us blackened with sin and tarnished with the stains of the world, and he picked us up and cleansed us. He bought us with his own life blood, paying the extraordinary price for our lost lives by laying down his own. He paid for my redemption and I received it by faith. But once received, how am I to live?  Didn't God provide guidelines? 

We know Israel's history was for our learning (I Cor 10:6,11), but we don't follow the statutes. We have categorically relegated the oldest scriptures and the Law to Israel. Oh, we love to take the promises for Israel to heart, but not the instructions! Why is that? We stuffed it with cotton buds and let it tarnish. 

Then I discovered that there are more than 200 references in the New Testament about keeping the commandments! It isn't enough to know or hear the Word of God, you must be doers, like a man building his house on a Rock.

I had to ask myself, will I be able to look my Father in the eye and tell Him that I didn’t think His commandments worth obeying or taking seriously? Can I really tell Him that I just brushed them aside and thought they didn’t apply to me and expect a blessing? Instead of treasuring what is of the MOST VALUE to GOD, I let it tarnish and sit ignored like an old mug on the shelf! 

Heavenly Father, I’m so sorry! I’m sorry for the whole church and for any of us who dismissed your teaching and instructions. We merely went with the flow because it was easy and comfortable, but it wasn’t what You said!  

I want to love you with my whole heart and soul and strength and mind. I want to treasure your Word like a precious and most valuable treasure!  

Help me to brush off the tarnish of stubborn traditions and strip away the corrosion of error down through the years. Purify my heart, Father. Open my eyes to recognize the rich beauty of your WORD, and the reward that comes only with obedience, as David wrote:

"The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 

More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 

Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."   

Psalm 19:9-11 (NKJV)