Have you ever checked the clearance aisle in a store and seen some articles that were slightly damaged, or somewhat faded, so they were marked, “as is?” Of course, the understanding is that if you purchase those items you have to take them as they are. They won’t be fixed or repainted or rebuilt in any way. You simply agree to purchase them “as is.”
This is such a great phrase because it’s actually a reminder to each of us that we were initially accepted by God, “as is.” We invited Him into our lives, and despite the cleaning up that He knew would have to be done, He came. He saw us just as we were, knew we’d need some fixing up to be worthy of Him, but when we accepted His Son, He had a place to start. He could work with us, reshape us and even rebuild those broken parts of us to make us whole again. It was a great day. In fact, it was the greatest day of our lives!
So, what have we done for Him since then? Are we shinier, handier, more useful in any way than when He first found us? Have we allowed Him to clean us up, so we no longer have those old attitudes and ideas? We can get a little rusty, or a bit stuck in old habits and patterns that don’t serve us well. Sometimes we’re so enamored of the person we imagine ourselves to be, that we’re not even aware that we need shaping. We even think others are wrong who might try to change us. We tell them, we are fine just the way we are. We try to convince them to accept us “as is.” The problem is that they can’t actually do much to help move us along, and when we’re stuck in our own tin can, kind of like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz, we can’t tell how to fix ourselves. We need help. We need extra oil.
Often, we forget who we are; forget that God has claimed us and made us His own. The Scripture says that God makes us new every morning. Wow! That’s a pretty awesome thing! Every day, we wake up shiny and new, ready to take on the world. When we do, we’ll encounter a lot of people who want us to accept them just as they are, “as is.” The good news is that we can. We can do that because we have the light of Christ within us and that light will keep us confident and strong. We might even help a few of our brothers and sisters discover they too can be renewed. They just have to ask Jesus to accept them, “as is.”
You’re looking really awesome today!