Total Loss - Salvaged

Yesterday, I was told that due to the accident I wrote about in my last post, that my van is a total loss.

Total loss.

These are the words used to describe a vehicle that has damages above the value of the vehicle. It means, it can be salvaged, but it may not be worth it.

This is not how I would describe total loss. Total loss is what millions of people in Japan experienced just days ago as earthquakes rocked the ground and waters swept over houses, cars, businesses, everything. Entire cities were completely devastated. People lost everything they owned. They even lost people close to them who are missing or died during these tragedies!

But even worse than that, there are people who are living without true joy that comes only with knowing Christ personally. They are experiencing life - happiness and tragedies - as though that's all there is. They are missing out on real purpose and meaning. They are missing out on the promise of eternity with our Creator. And they don't even know what they are missing.

That's total loss.

I lost a van. There's just no comparison.

But just like my van, it doesn't have to be a complete loss. Christ came to die so that our lives don't have to be a total loss. When we admit that we are sinners, believe that He is the Son of God who came to save us, and give Him our lives - we are no longer considered a total loss. In fact, even better than a vehicle or the houses and buildings and cities that will need replaced in Japan, we're not just redeemed with the hopes of being worth it, we are renewed to a state that is even better than how we started! Our lives can be salvaged to a state of righteousness. God picks up the scraps left over after we have been tattered and beaten down by this world. He puts them back together, but when it is all completed, we are not just a refitting of our old pieces; nor our we a mixture of some new and some old. We are made brand new, our mileage has been reset, and we get put back on the road with a new beginning!