We live in an amazing age of “reality television.” The current favorite shows in our home focus upon the remodeling work of the Property Brothers, Fixer Upper, Love It or List It, and Flip or Flop. Millions need no explanation when “Chip and Joanna” or “Jonathan and Drew” are mentioned. One evening, I was amused that friends on Facebook from Texas to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan were watching the very same show and were all commenting on it!
Of course, none of these shows are based upon reality. From programs about pawn shops to exotic challenges on some far away island, from people locked away in a home to scroungers digging through mountains of junk – cameras just “happen to be present” when people are surprised!
Reality is what happens in your family and mine. Reality is the disagreements between a husband and wife followed by hugs and requests for forgiveness. Reality is the time spent in hospital emergency rooms and the waiting rooms of doctors. Reality is the renovation that needs to be done in our lives, because we cannot overcome sin no matter how much “elbow grease or demolition” we apply trying to remove its stain.
The Ultimate Renovation will never be accomplished by the talent of mankind, but it WILL be performed perfectly through the power of God’s grace and truth! Take some time to read and ponder Isaiah 61! The promise is that God will turn mankind from people of destruction into people who “rebuild the ancient ruins” and into people who “restore former devastations.” When God renovates a life strangers will not mistrust you, they will stand and feed your flocks. Foreigners will not become a cause of worry; they will plow our fields and pick our grapes for us! When God remodels a life, He does more than take out a wall here or there. God turns the greedy into people who love justice! All this is true, and I have yet to scratch the surface!
In four short days, disciples of Jesus will gather to celebrate the resurrection that performs this incredible makeover. We will welcome a number of people who attend service infrequently. I pray it will be a day of joy. I also pray that it will be a day when I open the door of a room I secretly nailed shut and ask the carpenter’s son to work His will. When God renovates, there is no FLOP, and no one will ever LIST His work for sale! You think about that!
