Why I Hate Yard Sales
My wife loves yard sales. Back when we had cable, HGTV was her ESPN. She loved watching the transformation of an abandoned foreclosure, or hoarder’s mess into a beautifully decorated home. She was especially hooked on “Clean House.” The concept is simple. A few decorators/carpenters/organizers/comedians show up at a hoarder’s home to redecorate it using the money they make by selling the owner’s old junk. The more they sold, the more renovation could take place. Every time Trish Suhr, “The Yard Sale Diva,” would come on screen, she would say, “I wanna do that!”
Let me just say, if I believed in purgatory, I would imagine it to be a perpetual yard sale. No one is happy, and all you can do is hold out hope that it will eventually be over. For me the worst part is “pricing” things. The shows make it look easy. “Sure, I will buy your urine stained Tickle Me Elmo for ten bucks!” Its never that easy. We don’t put tags on our stuff either. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful to avoid the task, but it leaves me constantly looking to my “Yard Sale Diva” to give me a price for everything. “How much is this worth,” I said countless times that day.
Most of my life I have been asking that question of myself as well. How much am I worth? I think all of us from time to time look for affirmation of our value from fathers, mothers, work, and friends. But no one can answer the question for us. Just like a yard sale, we may remember how much we were worth at our creation, but a lot has happened to us since. We are sinners: fallen, wretched, and rebellious. We wonder how God could love us, and whether or not we are still “valuable” to Him and His kingdom. We recall our shameful deeds with vivid clarity. We know the selfish plotting of our minds. We see the collateral damage of our prideful ways. And we wonder, “How much am I worth?”
We are guilty of believing that our sinful condition has marred our value. Think of it like a marred, crumpled, half-torn off thousand-dollar bill. If its value was based on the cost of ink, and paper it would be about ten cents, the same as a dollar bill. However, its value is determined by the US Government, and is worth no more or less than what they decide. Even in its horrid condition, it is worth the same amount. You need only prove you possess it, and a bank will replace it with a new one. Its condition does not touch its value. Neither does yours!
God sent His son because He LOVED the world. Jesus died for us while we were yet SINNERS. Birds do not sow or reap, but your heavenly Father cares for them. How much more VALUABLE are you than they? Many of us have believed that the more we degrade our value as a result of sin, the more likely we are to repent. We think self-hate is spiritual. Not so. When we believe our condition affects our value, we are more likely to GIVE UP and become apathetic and oppressed by despair. If I am worthless as a result of my sin, why would God bother with me? Why change? What I must accept is that God Himself set my value at creation, and sent His Son to purchase what is valuable to Him EVEN IN MY WRETCHED CONDITION! Only then will I say to myself, “I know my worth, and I desire to repent from that which is less that what my Father wants for His beloved!” No one but your Heavenly Father can tell you what you are worth, and He already has.
Aarron