Usable Pieces

Frequenting Lynn's Fabric Shop owned by my mother-in-law and her mother, I learned helping and shopping that an average bolt of fabric held fifty yards of cloth. Once the yardage on a bolt was low, the material was removed, folded, and placed on the remnant table. The remnant table also held fabrics with slight defects and pieces that the clerks miscut, usable material, but separated.

The expression "cut from the same cloth" means two or more people are similar in characteristics, attitudes, or behavior. Our Triune God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, created man in His image, male and female (v. 27): "And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness . . ." (Genesis 1:26a). Because He made us in His likeness, we are, if you would, "cut from His cloth" and called His child. But one day, we knew something was wrong yet did it anyway. At that moment, we sinned our first sin, and that sin separated us from God. We were, if you would, "cut from the bolt." Severance from "the bolt" didn't happen because the yardage was low, or because of any defect, nor poor measuring. People are on the remnant table, separated from God, by choice.

But there is hope. God, who is rich in mercy, didn't create you to be on the remnant table: He "passes by the transgressions of the remnant of His heritage" (Micah 7:18). He pardons the guilt of sin through the blood of His Son, Jesus. Once you confess your sins, ask for forgiveness, turning from your way, and invite Jesus into your life, He takes up residence within you; you are His remnant. God washes away your sins and restores you to "the Bolt" from which you came.