Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.  Psalm 43:5

Karl Crowe tells the story: A missionary Bible translator was working on a language that had not been reduced to writing when she came across a portion of Scripture which had already been translated into the language she was working on. She noticed that the word idinide had been used for the English word Savior. The word literally means “picker upper” or “one who picks up something.”  She thought, “This is definitely not the right word!”

Then one day a woman gave birth to a child in the tribe where she was ministering, and she was asked to visit the mother and the newborn and be the idinide or the “picker upper.”  Not quite sure what she was in for, she, nonetheless, went to the house to find a newborn baby boy lying on the jungle floor, on a bed of newly cut leaves, screaming for all he was worth, the mother lying in a hammock above the tiny little infant.

The mother repeated the request that had already been made, asking her to be the “picker upper.”  “What am I supposed to do?” she asked. The mother said, “First you pick up the baby,” which she did, removing the leaves and the ants which were crawling over the little body. “Now you wash the baby,” she was instructed. With no water available, she got a can and went to a nearby stream and brought water, cleaning the little dark-eyed baby, making him as presentable as possible.

“Now what do I do?” asked the missionary.  “Take the baby to the village and present him to his father.” Taking the little boy in her arms, the missionary went to the village to find the father and inform him that he had a newborn son.

And when the mission was completed, she began to understand why the word idinide or “picker upper” had been used for Savior. It all made sense! In that culture, no better word could be used; and no finer word picture could be given in any language to show what Jesus does when he finds you–sometimes in the gutter, sometimes in your loneliness, sometimes in your brokenness but always in your sin–cleans you up, then cuts the umbilical cord which bound you to your old sinful nature and habits that enslaved you, and finally brings you to the Father and says, “This is your new adopted son; I gave my life to bring Him into our family!”

Yes, there is none who is the “picker upper” that Jesus is!  Some 55 times in Scripture, the Lord is referred to as Savior and each of these is a beautiful picture of one who saves us from something–our sin, our failure, our wrongdoing, our mistakes and miserable circumstances.  “He will save his people from their sins,” was the message of the angel to Joseph.

Have you learned personally that Jesus Christ is the one who will pick you up and love you as you are? He doesn’t wait until you complete the twelve-step program, or work through your hang-ups with a counselor, or let a psychiatrist talk you out of your guilt. He reaches down and extends a hand as He says, “I forgive you just as you are!”

Question: Do you need a “picker upper” to lift you up? That was Jesus’ mission, and He is still in the business. Remember the picture of the missionary who was asked to be the idinide for the newborn lying on a jungle floor, and ask God’s Son, your Savior to pick you up where you are. He will change your life and present you to the Father as God’s child.  He’s as close as your cry for help. Never forget, He came from heaven to fulfill this mission. He’s willing to be your idinide today.

Resource reading: Psalm 43:1-5