I love a good shopping cart. (If we’re friends on Facebook, you probably already knew that.)
Not long ago I was in a retail store during a very busy season. I grabbed the last cart available only to discover that it pulled hard to the left. Additionally, it had a wheel that thrummed and clicked at a rhythm consistent with my pace. Left un-corrected the cart would veer hard left and crash into people and displays causing damage. The thumping wheel made using the cart for its intended purpose nearly impossible. What is typically a fun experience was spoiled by the broken cart.
The simple shopping cart reminds me of something important. Orthodox Christian teaching reminds us that when we are born, though cute and cuddly, we are also subject to the pull of sin. We enter this world with a natural tendency toward self and sin and away from God. The life that we live is hampered by our sinful nature. Left uncorrected we ultimately crash causing damage to ourselves and those around us. Additionally, life as it was intended is unsatisfying and broken as we cannot realize the true purposes for which we were given life.
Thankfully, this is not the end of the story. In Christ, God has provided the repair for our “broken carts.” Jesus’ death and resurrection provides forgiveness for the inevitable crashes and subsequent damage and the work of the Holy Spirit even serves to correct the tendency to veer back to self and sin. All of this to say that in Christ we can know forgiveness from sin and freedom from the tendency toward sin and begin to live life as God intended it. When we accept the repair that God offers in Christ, we can find the satisfaction of life abundant and free.
Here is my hope. First, that you experience the work of Christ in your own life. Second, that every time you yank a cart out of the coral and begin to traipse through the market, you’ll remember the powerful work of God in Jesus Christ. May every thrumming wheel and veering cart remind you that Jesus is the cure for sin, original and personal.
We had a terrific 10 days at SCO Camp Meeting. Drs. Chuck and Carla Sunberg did a terrific job leading us to truth through preaching, our various singing groups were outstanding, the children and teen events were awesome, and God blessed us with a generous crowd of givers. Plans are already underway for camp meeting next year. I hope you can join us.
