«What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!» (Romans 7:24, 25, NIV).
THAT IS a wretched person? It is someone miserable, someone without values, a perverse person, a waste, someone considered trash. These are strong definitions, but this is the reality we must face.
Trash, for example, is part of our history. The Greeks and the Romans developed the habit of burying their leftovers. In the Middle Ages, trash that had accumulated caused epidemics. «Ibe Industrial Revolution multiplied production of both materials and consumption. The deterioration of the ozone layer, global warming, air and water pollution, the uncontrolled increase in consumption of all kinds of resources, and the use of non-biodegradable products along with electronic and nuclear materials are all causing chaos on the planet, to the point that this topic has become one of the greatest worldwide concerns of our time.
Every year, we generate between seven and ten billion tons of trash on our planet. In the more developed countries, the average daily production of trash exceeds six pounds per person. Countries take three actions to diminish the problem of trash: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. The 3R’s put into practice have a lot of benefits, among them the reduction of pollution, safeguarding of health and the prolonging of life.
To think that what had just come from the hands of the Creator was perfect: everything was «very good» (Gen. 1:31) and amazing. Unfortunately, sin infiltrated itself into the original product. Human beings choose to degrade themselves and decompose, which causes frustration, pain, and death.
During the days of the apostle Paul, a sinner was punished by being chained to the evidence of their sin, in other words, to a cadaver. Applying this to spiritual life, Paul says that he is wretched, because no one could save him from that body of death. Joyfully, the same Spirit that allowed him to recognize his situation led him to the remedy: Jesus Christ, and His hope.
God’s plan also includes the 3 R’s.
He wants to reduce to nothing the works of the devil.
He wants to reuse this residue that is our life as a channel to redistribute water of life.
He wants to recycle the earth, to end the planetary chaos and the trash of sin, transforming the mortal into the immortal and the corrupt into the incorruptible (l Cor. 15:51—53). It will be a complete and definitive recycling.
We are wretched, but reached by God, transformed and used by Him, to put an end to the waste of sin and enjoy eternity.
Thank you, Lord, for redeeming us and reusing us as messengers of hope, so that soon we can be recycled for Your kingdom!
