Good Rags

Earlier today, I was looking for a good rag to use for a messy job, and something in the back of my mind wondered whether that was an oxymoron. If a piece of cloth was tattered enough to be considered a "rag," how could it still be considered "good"? I reasoned that a rag could be good if it was good enough for the job that needed doing. The job I was doing was a messy one, too messy for an untattered cloth, so I figured that a slightly tattered rag would be good enough. In fact, when I found a wash cloth with a small hole in it, I actually said "Perfect," because I felt that that rag would be perfect for the job.

No person, save Jesus, has ever been perfect. We all have imperfections, tatters and holes, that make us more like rags than like undamaged pieces of cloth. Yet, despite our imperfections, God sees a lot of good in us, and He often puts us to good use. In fact, if we let Him direct us, He can place us into positions where we are actually practically perfect for the jobs He wants us to do. We each have our personal strengths and weaknesses, our features and our flaws, and because God knows them all perfectly, He can select tasks for us that account for, and possibly even make good use of, the weaknesses we have.

Though we are imperfect, we are perfect for the work God wants us to do. Though our faults and weaknesses may make us somewhat like rags, God sees the good in us and the good that we can do. It's not an oxymoron to say that someone is a "good person," even though no person, except Jesus, has ever been perfectly good. Similarly, when we acknowledge our limitations, we may admit that we are much like rags, but when we follow God's plan for us, we discover that He sees us as good ones.