Do you ever go consignment sale shopping? Our church has a children’s consignment sale twice a year and it begins today. They take in over 50,000 items in a two day period and turn our civic center into a temporary Wal-Mart of sorts. It is really amazing. The ladies who started it years ago have it down to a fine tuned machine.

Tonight the doors will open to all of the workers and sellers to shop and then tomorrow morning it opens to the public and runs for two days. They take almost anything related to children as long as it isn’t frightening or have to do with weapons. It is a great opportunity for people to come and shop and save money. They see value in something that has been used before and they benefit from it.

The people who sell their items clean them well and some even iron every garment. They wash the toys well and then they tag them as a way to say “This belongs to me.” We have shoppers come in from all over the county to shop the sale. Some travel from other counties. It’s a huge consignment sale.

I love that God is in the recycling business. It doesn’t matter what our condition is when we come to Him, He will receive us. His desire is that none should perish [Matthew 18:14]. He takes us and He washes us white as snow [Psalm 51:10; 1 John 1:9]. When He has cleansed us, He will declare us new and useful. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

You know, the only difference between a yard sale or consignment sale and an antique store is the price someone is willing to pay for the stuff inside. Christ put great value on your and me when He demonstrated His willingness to pay for us with His life [Romans 5:8]. He gave it all for us and all we have to do is receive Him. I think we got a bargain; how about you?