Faith Words: Like Him

We went to a house today that was old and worn out. The paint was flaking and the wood trim rotting.  The windows didn't close properly and the doors stuck and were hard to open.  Inside was worse.  The original wood floors were stained.  There were tiles missing from the bathroom floor.  And the smell!  I can't describe the awful smell that overwhelmed us as we went from room to room.  I pulled my shirt up over my nose in an effort to keep from taking in the offensive odor. (And believer me - offensive is a mild word for what my nose was sensing!)

As we headed for the back yard, I thought we'd at least be met with fresh air and would be able to breathe again.. And we were.  But the deck was rotten with nail heads popping up here and there, ready to catch the unwary foot and trip the careless visitor.  I feared what I couldn't see - in the grass, under the deck, through the next gate. Unwelcome surprises were surely everywhere.  More evidence of the lack of care and maintenance that shouted from every inch of this house.

I hoped the people who were buying the house had plans to renovate it, to restore the damaged surfaces to a like-new condition.  It was clear they could see its potential, beyond the damage and debris.  I tried to picture it clean and functioning properly, with pretty decor and laughter.

It was hard to imagine that this had once been a new home, welcoming a family and their friends, witnessing the events of their lives, enjoying all that came across that threshold.  Once, friends and family had sat together here and shared the intimate details of life - birth, death, love, sadness.

Now all that was left was a nearly empty shell that sadly testified to devastating loss and neglect.  How did this little home get to the sorry state we saw it in?  When did its owners stop caring?

Is this what we become when we stop taking care of ourselves?  When we forget to fill our lives with good and beautiful thoughts?  When we neglect the condition of our hearts?  Is this how God sees us?

I know He can look past the disgusting garbage and see what we are meant to be.  He knows our original innocent and pure state.  He has the resources and skill to fix what's wrong, to restore what's been lost.  He can cleanse us so completely that the stench of our sins is forever washed away by the blood of His precious Son.

I'm so glad He decided I was worth the purchase price, that I wasn't beyond redemption.  I can only imagine what I'll look like when He gets finished restoring me.  I can only imagine.

Still a work in progress,

Patrice

1 John 3:2 (NIV)

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.