The definition of salvage “is the act of saving anything from danger”. One definition also says “Something saved from destruction or waste and put to further use”. The word salvage comes from the word salvation and is a variant form of salvation. They mean one in the same thing. Salvation is the ongoing act of being salvaged.
The amazing thing about this word “Salvation” to me is that it appears in the Bible 159 times. Apparently it is a really important subject since it is mentioned in almost every book of the Bible. Christians often throw this term around (haphazardly) and I think that it has gotten watered down in its meaning because of it. Salvation is a powerful word as it relates to the human condition and what God has done to “Salvage” it. Not only has it gotten watered down because of its overuse among Christians, it has become an obscure and difficult word to non-believers as well because they don’t understand the simplicity of what it means to say that God is a God of Salvation. To the non-believer it just sounds like yet another word the Christians use along with the 20-30 other Christianese words we throw around so much, like, “saved, forgiven, sanctified, justified, purified…” and the list goes on and on. These are words that your average person just does not understand in the context of what it means for God to offer all of those things through Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, I would venture to say that a lot of believers probably don’t understand them either because they have been over complicated and under taught.
You see in order for something to be salvaged it has to first be in danger. As a matter of fact the most salvaged things are actually shipwrecks. When I think of a shipwreck, I think of a heap of ruins that has some value but unless it is saved from further destruction, it will be rendered useless in it’s current state. The salvage business exists for a reason today and there’s lots of money being made doing so. The reason why? Just because a ship has been wrecked doesn’t mean it’s not valuable and can’t be put to further use. Now, when we take this same principle and apply it to our own lives and to the human condition as a shipwreck, the results are mind blowing!
I say all of this to prove a point from my own life. My life, meaning my heart, my thoughts, my actions, my motives…everything, was in a shipwrecked state. The way my life used to be, was being rendered useless because it was broken…That was before God salvaged it and saved it from the danger. Thank God that even though my life was being made useless, he in his amazing ability as God, creator of the universe saw the value that he created in me and knew that I could be put back together and be put to further use. He did this by sending his one and only son, Jesus Christ into this world to be my salvation. Jesus’ death on the cross was and is my salvage. This is the way that God rendered what was useless in it’s current state (my life) into something of great value and put it to another use because of its value.
Thank you God for salvaging my broken life and making it useful again! That is what “Salvation” means.
