By Rick Ashlock

“When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.” Napoleon Hill (1883-1970).

A few years ago, Ted Blood and I attended the “Mild to Wild” car show at the Tacoma Dome. We went primarily to see an old car that he had helped restore. If my memory serves me correctly, it was a 1938 Ford and it was absolutely unbelievable. Since I’m not very knowledgeable about cars, particularly restored antique cars, all of the vehicles on display were very impressive to me.

Ted’s, however, stood out even to a novice like me. It was obvious that the owner had spent an enormous sum of money because every single detail was exquisite. The seams along the body were very tight and absolutely straight. There was chrome everywhere. It was completely immaculate. The owner, however, had chosen not to simply bring the car back to its original condition. If he had, I suppose he would not have been showing it at a function entitled, “Mild to Wild.”

Instead, with the work of Ted and a few other skilled craftsmen, the old jalopy had become a true work of art with artistic license taken fairly liberally. Yet, the end result clearly honored the original design. This was a case of “controlled wildness.” Ted estimated that the owner had spent over four hundred thousand dollars on the restoration/modification process.

In case you were wondering, from a strictly financial perspective, that is not a good investment. Ted estimated that if the owner choose to sell the car, he would get less than one hundred fifty thousand dollars for it. Further, the car really could not be driven because of modifications to the front fenders which severely impacted the car’s turning radius. Although I could not help but admire the beauty of the finished project, part of me could not help but think, “What a waste!”

Whenever someone turns their lives over to Jesus, He has a tremendous restoration project before Him. He has to take a broken life full of sin, pain, and death and bring it back to life. Fortunately, it is well within His ability to take anyone’s life, regardless of the damage done to it by the perils of this world, and transform it into something more beautiful than it ever was before or could ever be without His powers.

All He asks in return is that we remember the price he paid to bring about our restoration, His life. I suppose if someone who was a shrewd evaluator examined the cost/benefit of Jesus’ life and our salvation, he would say that the cost paid far exceeds the value of the benefit received. Gladly, for our sake, Jesus did not think of it that way. He saw our need and through His love paid the price to restore us to the Father.

However, that’s not the end of the story. He did not restore us so that we could sit locked away in isolation. He wants to proudly show us off to the rest of the world. He wants others to see what great things He can do with the lives of obedient men and women. He hopes that others will see us and decide to bring their own broken down, dilapidated lives to the master restorer so that He can transform them into something more beautiful than they can imagine.

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