The God of Renovations

They’re still around today, but especially in the early 2000’s, home renovation shows were a very big deal.

Image via Pixabay

The host and their team would head into a dump of a house with a compelling human interest story attached to it, and over the course of an hour, would completely transform it into something fresh and new.

The end of the episode was the best part: the great reveal.

The family would get to see what had happened, and we watched excited kids, beaming dads, teary moms walk through their completely different and updated home.

It was good for the soul. Watching something run-down and dreary change into something bright and clean and perfect in its newness is supremely satisfying.

And that, dear friends, is exactly what Jesus is doing in you and me:

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. (2Co 5.17-18)

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2Co 3.18)

Whether you knew it or not, when you said “yes” to Jesus, you signed up for a complete home makeover of your soul.

You are in a life-long renovation process.

The end-product?

Someone who looks like Jesus.

You keep your personality and your uniqueness, of course. The Creator of the universe never makes the same thing twice, and surely doesn’t want a bunch of mindless identical robots.

But He desires that your heart, your mind, your character, your words, your actions, your choices, your ways would reflect the character of His Son Jesus.

For the sin to go, and for Christ to remain.

It is a work-in-progress, as any renovation is.

And like many of my own renovation projects, often my own transformation takes a lot longer and gets a lot messier than I would like.

But we serve a Master builder who knows exactly what He is doing.

My job is to do my part – to take notice of what needs work, and to submit it to the Master.

I seek the change that His Word brings to my mind, and seek the filling of the Spirit who changes me from the inside.

I get honest about my sin, and find someone I trust to confess to and to hold me accountable.

I spend time in prayer and worship, seeking the presence of God, knowing that although I must present myself to Him, it is He who does the transformational work.

And I take note of the change that I do see, even if it is slower than I would like…over time, with reflection, Jesus really is making me more like Him.

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