NEW LIFE FOR AN OLD TOWEL

The blue towel now has found an unexpected new purpose

 

We don't know how or when the old blue towel first found its way into the trunk of our automobile. The towel doesn't match anything that we have at home, but it suddenly appeared there one day some time earlier during our mission. There wasn't much use left in it when it came into our possession. It was a bit ragged around the edges with a a number of unraveling strings of thread indicating its rapidly deteriorating condition, and there was considerable evidence that the previous owner had employed the towel for a painting project or two.

 

Rather than throwing it away, Sister Lindsay decided that we might as well leave it in the trunk. There might be some occasion to use it as a rag should we need to clean up anything that either gets spilled or needs wiping.

 

A few months ago while we were preparing for a baptism at Church we discovered that the person being baptized had forgotten to bring a towel. Sister Lindsay remembered that we still had the blue towel in the trunk. Since it had just recently been washed, she quickly retrieved it. The baptism proceeded as planned without incident. 

A few days ago while the font was being filled with water for another baptism, we learned that the man who was about to join the Church had also forgotten to bring his towel. One of the young missionaries walked up to Sister Lindsay and asked, "Do you still have that blue towel in your car?"

And so, the old towel has found new life and purpose beyond its natural state. It might be said that all of us in our natural state are enemies to God and His righteousness; however, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can and will find new life and purpose that leads to salvation.

"The enabling power of the Atonement," according to Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve, "strengthens us to do and be good and to serve beyond our own individual desire and natural capacity.

“It is through the grace of the Lord Jesus, made possible by his atoning sacrifice, that mankind will be raised in immortality, every person receiving his body from the grave in a condition of everlasting life. It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts.”

Even though we may be old and frayed around the edges like the blue towel, our lives stained by sins and other shortcomings, still God has a plan for us through the grace of Jesus Christ to make old things new again enabling us to fulfill the purpose for which we were created. We can all be used to further the work of building the Kingdom of God here on earth. The willing become able in the hands of the Master.