(Psalms 24:1 HCSB)

REDUCE – is defined in ecology as pollution reduction. But in God’s ecology, we should reduce our sin production.

RE-USE  – God wants me to re-use my talents and gifts. God has SHAPEd me to be used by Him, and then He wants to re-use me. We might buy something and use it one time, and then we throw it away. But God doesn’t do that. God re-uses me as He sees fit.

RECYCLE – This is when you turn your material and let it be remade into something new. God does the same thing with my past. When I come to Jesus, God takes my past and He recycles it.

(2 Corinthians 5:17 HCSB)

Recycling is not reincarnation. When you recycle something, it is made into something new, but it is not reincarnated.

REDEEM – This is like buying something on eBay. You bought something and sold it to someone. Now you buy it back so that you can use it. Mostly, when you use eBay, you can find a deal. You can buy something cheaper. But if you were to redeem your stuff back, it could cost you. (You bought it once, sold it cheaper, and then re-bought the same thing back. So it costs you more money to redeem the original product.)

The same is true with God. It costs Him a great deal to redeem your life.

Photo by Dominik Jirovský on Unsplash