"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." - 2 Corinthians 5:17
I absolutely love HGTV. Within the last couple years, this girl has moved on from TLC's Say Yes to the Dress and What Not to Wear onto the Home and Garden channel. This may mean I'm getting old, but I'm enthralled with the idea of contractors/interior decorators taking an old fixer-upper home and restoring it to something beautiful. Seriously, who doesn't enjoy a good wall smashing? I'm not the only one who enjoys this kind of stuff either. One of my good friends told me she likes to drive by old farmhouses and just daydream about all the possible ways she would remodel the building and transform it into a stunning home that had reached it's full potential. This may be a generalized statement, but I believe within every human there is a deep rooted desire to see old and broken things restored. I'll go as far to claim that since we are made in God's image, this restorative process is important to our Creator as well.
My parents just put their house on the market. Part of that whole process was allowing a real estate agent to come into their home and take professional pictures that would appeal to potential buyers. Any dishevelment was made orderly. Any out of place item or clutter had to be put into boxes and stored away. Their home had to appear nearly perfect for these photos. (Mom, I apologize for giving away that your house is not perfectly organized or clutter free 100% of the time). In my opinion, homes are only cozy when they look slightly lived in. My point is that people want to be completely sure that they buy the right house and appearance goes a long way.
Sometimes I feel like I'm one of those broken down houses I mentioned earlier. I do a good job enhancing the curb appeal and making sure there is a fresh coat of paint on the outside, while on the inside I'm in need of some major restoration. You could take pictures from the street and I bet some people would even show up to get a tour of the house, but once they walked in the doors they would understand how much work it would take to make the house fully functional, let alone worthy of Better Homes Magazine. Here's the dilemma - I can't fix myself. My only hope would be for someone to tear down some walls and rebuild from the inside out. Why would someone want to do that when they could go down the street and buy a house that has a little more to offer?
Right about now you're probably thinking to yourself - Wow, this blog is incredibly depressing and I'd rather NOT spend my Sunday afternoon feeling bad about life. But I promise there is a happy ending for my broken down little home story. Despite my leaky pipes and cracks in the walls, I found an owner that has not only bought me, but has moved in and is ready to fully restore. This is what God has done for each of us. Within our own power, we are incapable of fixing ourselves. We do a good job appearing to be a certain way. Our white picket fence is put up and we invite people into our doors, but when they REALLY take a closer look, they will see that we are damaged and broken.
My God loves restoring broken things. When Jesus died on the cross for our sake, he gave us an invitation to be in relationship with Him. This isn't some sort of standoffish relationship with an old man that sits in the clouds peering down at his puppets, but rather one with a personable God who wants to move into our hearts and transform us into a new creation, more stunning than we could have ever imagined. Sometimes the transformation is painful - but it's only because we are being remodeled and refined into a home fit for a King. My owner wants to make something beautiful out of me and He loves me enough to do so, one day at a time.
"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you."
- 1 Peter 5:10