Restoration Project

    At Griffith Cycle, we are working on a restoration project for a customer on a 1979 Honda CX 500 Custom. If I'm restoring this bike, what has to have happened to it? It has to be broken or dilapidated in some way. In the process, old parts will be removed and replaced with new ones. 

    In Micah 5, God gives the Jews hope of restoration of their nation with the coming of a Messiah. He promises a new Jerusalem that is strong and stands above the nations. A leader will be born and the "remnant of Jacob" will return to Judah, and their enemies will be "cut off." In Micah 5:10-15 God tells the people of Judah all of the things that will be broken and cut off from them to restore them. These are things they trusted in instead of YHWH. 

    They will not be able to trust in their military might any longer. Kings were told not to have many horses in Deuteronomy 17:16. Solomon and subsequent kings violated this command, and Judah began to trust in military might. God says through Micah that their horses and chariots will be cut off. Their fortified cities and strongholds will also be thrown down. Any hope they had in their military will be gone. 

    The Jews could no longer could put their trust in mystics who operated outside of the Jewish religious system. These sorcerers and fortune tellers will be cut off so that the people will no longer look to them for guidance. The Asherah (Queen/Mother/Consort Goddess of the Ugarit people) and carved images will also be thrown down so that the Hebrew people may no longer bow down to the works of their hands. 

    In order for the people of Judah to be restored, they had to be broken. Perhaps it is better to say their trust had to be broken because it was put in the wrong things. Their idolatry, their instruments of war, and their way of life had to be destroyed for them to restored. 

    What does God need to destroy in your heart to restore you? Is it yourself? Your habits? Do you have idols in your life? Are there things and lusts that distract you from what truly matters? Perhaps there is someone that you hate. Sometimes, we just have to realize that it is our lives that have to change. If our life isn't broken how can we be restored? 

    When my service department is finished with this almost 40 year old bike, it will look like new and run better than new because we are putting new, modern parts on it. A restored life for this bike will be better than if it had never broken down. Likewise, a restored life for us is much better than if we continue living our lives having never been broken.