Pile of Junk?

Years ago my parents went to a garage sale and purchased a pile of wood for just a couple of bucks. When they brought home this pile of wood; which was really nothing but a big pile of junk; my brother, sister and I wondered why in the world they would buy junk wood. What good is it? It’s good only to be used for the fire. They brought it home and took it directly to the basement and there it sat; but soon my parents began to make trips up and down the basement stairs and it was obvious by the noise of power tools they were working on something big. We began to become more and more curious about what was going on. What were they working on? They never said a word, they just continued night after night working in the basement, and we who were not allowed down in the basement remained upstairs waiting and wondering. After several months and many hours of work my parents began to bring up out of the basement and place in our dinning room this beautiful dinning room table and chairs. Formally known as the pile of junk wood; you see my parents saw at this garage sale not a pile of wood to be cast out and burned but something of value and beauty. They saw what it was and what it could again become; beautiful and useful once again, just as it was intended at its creation. Galatians 6:1 says…”Brethren, if any one is caught in a trespass you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness”. I love the word restoration here, it simply means to restore back to its original state. Have you ever messed up in life? I mean blown it big time? The reality is; we all have. Sometimes when we blow it, we feel like that pile of junk wood, we often feel like we are good for nothing, of no value and should be thrown out in the junk pile. But that’s not the heart of God; His heart is and always will be restoration. God sees someone of value, beauty and usefulness. When you think about it; isn’t that why He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die for man kind; to restore man back into a right relationship with the Father? You may have failed in life and may feel broken and wounded because of it. You may even feel like there is no longer any hope for you because you’ve blown too big to be restored. The truth is, you can be restored and God longs to restore you, because he loves you with an everlasting love. The journey down the road to restoration is sometimes long and painful, but it is certainly one worth traveling. After all; the end result may be more beautiful and useful than its original purpose. Think about it.