My grandchildren were browsing among my moving boxes looking for a treasure called “vinyl.” It seems those piles of shiny CDs I own are about as valuable as 8-track tapes, but old-fashioned black vinyl records are in fashion again. Surely Papa had a stash of records in there somewhere!
Alas, I don’t, but I remember something magical about putting one on the stereo and watching the album drop onto the turntable. Then the play arm with its needle would swing over and find track one. Analog was amazing, but it had one fatal flaw. If a record got a scratch it was doomed.
My first album was Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water. I worked hard and saved to buy it. It brought me such joy until one day my baby sister grabbed the arm and dragged it across the record. I can still hear the screech and I’m sure she still remembers my desperate cry of despair! I tried everything. I tried to ignore the scratch: “Like a bridge over – click – troubled waters – CLICK.” It was no use. The record was ruined.
Life is like that. There are scratches on everybody’s record, and there comes a point when they can’t be ignored. The record needs to be replaced. That’s what Christians call the “New Birth.”
This morning, in your devotional time, try singing “Why Did My Savior Come to Earth?” Here is my prayer for today:
“Dear Lord, You have created a beautiful world in which we marvel, but what You do best is re-create our broken lives. Thank You!”