"Trash to Treasure"

Wow, what an image! Who in their right mind would want to live amongst all that trash? No one! And even though this isn't the visible lay-of-the-land to the naked eye, we all have a sense of being immersed in a sea of nonsense – This trash, if you will, represents our own personal perspective and opinion as it relates to those things in this world we strongly disagree with, because they deceitfully attempt to influence us away from our faith. The trash in this image represents what we have chosen to oppose because of our morals, our character, and for followers of Christ who truly know the torment of sin, it is because these things offend the spirit of God who dwells within us. Our response is that of the person in the image, who is stretched out and fully extended spiritually in faith, towards God. This is the posture of a faithful Christ follower who knows his place amongst the comings and goings of this world. He or she is refueled-by-faith, amidst the torment-of-sin. “But Darren, will the torment ever go away?” No, the torment is here to stay until the second coming of Jesus. The way I look at it, the Holy Spirit who lives within me has given me the spiritual sense of opposition to sin (which is great), not so I can run from it, but instead, so that I can recognize it for my own wellbeing, and so I might engage spiritually around those who suffer and dwell unknowingly amongst it. In this way, God can use me to pull people from it by giving them the spiritual perspective of Christ. We are all part of a search and rescue mission for Christ, and therefore I have called this illustration, “Trash to Treasure”. It’s not because people are the trash because they are not! Trash to Treasure means that we need to change our focus, from being consumed-and-concerned about the state of the things around us, and instead turn our focus (our eyes) towards the treasure of every lost soul. That is every person the Holy Spirit directs us towards because they have been deceived and consumed by the perspective of trash-first, God-second. People are not the trash; they are the treasure of God! We are all God’s children.