This House

1997

This morning I was walking down from the barn to the house, when for some reason I started to think about our very first visitor here.  Uncle Rod was the first person who came to see us at our new place sixteen years ago.  I think he was really excited for us until he got here.  His first visit turned into an inspection, as he walked from widow to window with a candle, to show us how drafty and in efficient our house was.  I know he was just concerned for us.  It was October and we had a seven month old son to think about.  I remember being overwhelmed and hurt by all of the issues he pointed out that day.  Soon my sister came to visit, and though she held back her opinions that day, I found out several years later that she had also been rather shocked and disappointed by our choice. She only mentioned this after many projects had improved the conditions and she could express appreciation for that.  We bought our house knowing that there were things we needed to change, but we saw the potential more than the problems, and we made the investment intending to do the work.

2014

How much more does Christ look at me and see my potential more than my problems?  He could have looked at me and said, "What a mess!  I am going to invest in someone who has it more together,"  But He invested in me!  I'm not saying He chose me instead of someone else, just that He didn't turn away from me because of my pathetic condition. He put His Holy Spirit in me as a down payment, guaranteeing that He would do all the necessary work to turn me into a presentable dwelling.  Ephesians 1:13-14 says, "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."    He's working in me, but He's also using me as I am in the meantime, just as we moved into our house and began replacing windows and insulating rooms one at a time.  The fact that our house needed work didn't make it any less ours.  We had bought it and we were going to live in it.

  

Our house still isn't finished, and it never really will be.  There will always be things that need to be repaired or updated here.  In the meantime we stay here, and we work with what we've got.  Friends come over and we enjoy time together even if the staircase still doesn't have carpet or baseboards.  We have a warm place to sleep even though some of the rooms need new paint.  We enjoy meals together here regardless of the kitchen cabinets being old and stained.  Like I said, there will always be things that we want to change here in our house.  Though the housework goes on, the good news is that someday the work on my heart will be complete.  I know I use this verse a lot, but it's one of my favorites, "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."  (Philippians 1:6)  Completion!  What a thought!

What about you?  Has God begun construction in your heart and life?  Have you ever thought you were too much of a mess for Him to consider?  You're not!  In fact, Jesus says in Luke 5:32 "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”  There's not a mess too big for Him to fix, but He gives each individual the choice to stay as they are or allow the work to begin.  We can't do the work on our own, God has to do it, but He waits for us to invite Him in.  "For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'" (Romans 10:13)  Did I forget to mention that there is an excessive cost to this project?  Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."   The price is high, but God paid it through the death of His Son so that He could offer this to us as a gift.  Death had no power over God's perfect Son in whom there was no sin, and He rose to life on the third day.  We can call on Him!  He is alive!  He's ready to get to work in each of us as soon as we will open the door of our heart so He can make it His home.