Let every priest receive the money from one of the treasurers, then use it to repair whatever damage is found in the temple. – 2 Kings 12:5

Today's Scripture Reading (January 31, 2023): 2 Kings 12

There is something fun about a restoration project. To take something, say a car or a house, and restore it to what it was originally meant to be, or maybe even an upgrade on the original architect's dream, leaves us feeling empowered and a little like an artist. I have said that I grew up in a car family. When I was growing up, my dad always seemed to be working at restoring a car that appeared to be long past its day. The fun came in restoring the beauty and usefulness of the car once again.

During the time that Athaliah held political power in Judah, the temple had fallen into trouble. Many of the temple's vessels and instruments had been removed and repurposed so they could be used to worship other gods. And because of that, these instruments needed to be replaced, and the whole temple needed to be restored. So, the reign of Joash begins with great promise as he orders the restoration of the temple. The King hoped that what was once beautiful and full of God's purpose could become that way again.

Once we fixed things that were broken. I remember my grandfather scolding me because I never learned to darn my socks; instead, I threw the holey socks away and went and bought new ones. According to grandpa, it was a waste. Our current culture would disagree. We have become more of a disposable culture. While not absent, the idea of restoring something in our society seems to be disappearing, except maybe on our reality television shows. When our cars break down, we buy new ones. When our houses no longer fit our lifestyle, we replace them with a different home. But all of this is a current cultural development, but it hasn't always been this way.

It hasn't been a large step from making things disposable in our lives to making the people journeying with us disposable. Our relationships are often easier to throw away than to try to fix. But our problem as Christians is that we have always been about restoring people so that they can make the most of their lives. We are God's love message to the world, and we are the ones that get to tell the world that God loves them and sees value in them. And everyone around us deserves to be restored and not discarded.

Restoration isn't an easy path. Often the item we are restoring tends to bite back. But in the end, there really is no feeling like seeing something, or someone, restored to the beauty they were originally intended to possess.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Joel 1