So God is trying to show me something. And I can't fall back asleep until I write it down.
There is this house. A rundown house in shambles. Its a mess. The previous owner trashed it. A man sees the house, looks within it, and sees the beauty underneath all the filth. He sees the potential in this house. He wants the house. He sacrifices so much for this house and He buys it. He lovingly restores the house, putting blood, sweat and tears into the restoration process. He salvages what He can from what He has to work with, but only salvages the things that are of the most value. He trashes a lot of things that just don't belong in this particular house, things that are not original to this design of the house. He restores the beautiful old wood floors, tears down the ugly wallpaper, brings in a new bathroom but leaves the old claw foot soaking tub. The kitchen, the heart of the home, gets an entire overhaul. It is stunning.
Do you see where I'm going?
Now this man gives this house to his kids for them to live in. He gives complete control of the house to them, but He still owns it. The new tenants are aware of how beautiful this house is, but aren't aware of all that was sacrificed in order to make it as beautiful as it was. They saw the before pictures, and they see the new house now, but they don't fully understand what was given in order to make this house beautiful again. The Dad comes to visit on a regular basis at first, but then the invitations for Him to come over stop coming. They begin to neglect the house. It doesn't happen overnight...they don't trash the place; they just start to neglect cleaning it, and fixing it when things break down. They let other things take up all of their time and they don't make time for the house. Over the years, it becomes filthy, run down and broken. The kitchen that was pristine, is now a dirty mess. Then the owner of the house, their Father, comes for a visit. What do you think His reaction is? How do you think this makes Him feel? Is He justified in kicking his kids out for gross neglect of His beautiful house?
Our lives are like this house. God is longing to take the broken and make it beautiful. He sacrificed it all, His son Jesus, on the cross. So we could have a new start at things, so we could live up to our true potential. And yet time after time we fail to "clean house" in so many areas. We begin to let the dirt and filth into our "house" a little at a time. After awhile, we don't even see it. We are so blind to it. We look at other houses and say to ourselves, "My house isn't nearly as bad as their house. At least my lawn is nicely mowed and I have beautiful landscaping. At least the outside looks nice." What about the parts of the house that no one else sees? What about the furnace, the insulation...are there termites living in your house?
3 To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities destroyed long ago. They will revive them, though they have been deserted for many generations. Isaiah 61:3-4 (New Living Translation)
God is trying to show me in such a practical way that I am neglecting my house. I'm neglecting my relationship with Him. I'm not allowing the broken things to be fixed and restored. I'm not taking the time to not only keep my house beautiful, but to add new beauty to it. Someday my 3 beautiful children will inherit this house. They are seeing the way I take care of my house, and they are learning lifelong lessons. Will they learn to clean on a daily basis, or crisis clean when company comes over. Will they learn to fix the leaky pipe, or wait until a flood happens in the basement and they have to call a plumber and cleanup crew.
15 “Though you were once despised and hated, with no one traveling through you, I will make you beautiful forever, a joy to all generations. Isaiah 60:15 (New Living Translation)
This is how I want to be remembered. I want my life filled with Beauty and Joy.
