I am a bottom feeder. I relish in the act of scavenging for items that have been cast aside, discarded and unwanted. I feel a sense of fulfillment when reclaiming a hidden treasure or a tattered relic from a rummage pile. Though once forgotten, these salvaged scraps take on a whole new life when polished, cleaned or mended.

How am I so easily captivated by a decaying find? Would I but notice the salvaged scraps of humanity cast aside upon heaps of despair and oppression? How can I turn a blind eye from my brothers and sisters in need? God’s people may be covered in a layer of filth but we are treasures of the best kind. We are diamonds in the rough. God sees us as infinite treasure. He sees past the caked on scum to the beauty within. God calls us to see all of His creation through eyes of mercy and love. How can we see past our own filth to the potential in others? I believe it starts with repentance and humility.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

1 John 1:9

God meets me in the bathtub repeatedly. It is a place for me to come clean in every area of my life. Once I am cleansed and forgiven by God I am better able to set aside my grimy flesh and allow the Holy Spirit to penetrate the ugly places. I love best when I take God’s forgiveness with me to the gunky muck on the bottom of life and use it to polish those infinite treasures of God’s people cast aside and waiting to be scavenged. Although we must come clean before God, we must not let a few specks of dirt in our flesh to stand in the way of acting justly. We can serve God wherever we are at in our spiritual quest. Who can better act with mercy and compassion than those of us who have fallen into low places.

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

James 4:10

O how I long to shed the light of Christ upon the bottom of the deepest depths. I find my spirit willing and yet my fleshly pride so irresistibly weak. Humility comes before honor just as a tattered relic is virtually worthless until is is repaired. Please O God we need you to bring us to the bottom of the junk pile. Bring us low so we may understand the depravity.

Yet, do not keep us at the bottom, Lord. Allow us to rise to the top of the scrap heap so we may walk forward with justice and victory! May we not be distracted by treasures of this world.

“Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky.”

Proverbs 23:5

What are you hungry for?

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Matthew 5:6

I myself am starved for the chance to track down more trails of reclaimed treasure and rummage piles. Will I ever be satisfied? Most definitely not. My flesh may be starved for leftovers for a life time. My soul is famished for more than just a surface scrubbing. My spirit hungers for a deep cleansing and a need to be reclaimed from my sin. Scavenging may be my passion but there is One more thorough in His probings than myself. His name is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the ultimate Scavenger. He is the only One who can truly delve deep below the surface to cleanse us from our filth.

Although I am fond of bottom feeding, I have been scavenged by my Savior’s Love and therefore will rise above the depths to share His infinite treasures with my fellow man.

“He has shown you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Micah 6:8