My son really enjoyed helping a local builder last spring. They worked together to do things like install new wood flooring, new stairs, new cabinets on new walls, and new tongue and groove. Not only was everything new, he even got paid for his time! That was not the case with our little remodel job for the church parsonage last week. My son did not enjoy ripping off the old espestos siding from inside the porch or scraping glue and paper off of the floor. On a remodel job, it takes hours of tedious time just to get to the part where a new construction job typically starts, even on a “small” job.
It is just not any fun to go into a remodel project knowing that you are going to find problems that need to be fixed. Not knowing how much extra time it is going to take to overcome every one of those problems only adds to the anxiety. Add to that the potential costs of materials and time needed to fix covered up problems and most contractors dread or outright refuse a remodel job, for good reason.
Fortunately for us, God is a master carpenter and specializes in the remodel business. Think about it. It only took God a day to make man and woman in His image – new, perfect, and without a flaw. But when they sinned, look at what would need to be fixed. Not only would there be problems with Adam and Eve, but also problems with their kids (i.e. Cain and Abel) and problems with every descendent to follow. Still today, every person can be compared to a building that has extensive internal sin damage, no matter how pretty we look or act on the outside.
If we are willing to allow God to fix up our lives and make ourselves righteous, we must be willing to embark on that costly remodel job with Him. There is going to be glue to strip, like all of those sins we became comfortable with from a young age. There is going to be old siding to tear down, like those sinful patterns we developed to protect ourselves in this dog eat dog world. There is going to be rotten material that needs to be uncovered and removed, like the addictions we got ourselves into. There are going to be uneven surfaces that need to be planed, shimmed, and straightened, like the relationships that we have added stress to through the years. And all of this will come at a cost. For that we can be thankful to God again, because not only is God in the remodel business, He also donates and guarantees 100% completion and righteousness in us by the work of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Do you have problems with your life? Is your personal building in need of repair? Call up the Carpenter’s Son, Jesus, and remodel your life today!
“For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:9-11