…He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:6
If I could suggest a Thank you note for Jimmy Fallon to write it would be…
Thank you HGTV for the misleading inspiration that I could makeover my home in one hour effortlessly, without a mess.
Home ownership comes with the never ending task of upkeep and updating the dwelling that we call home. Normal wear and tear and a few rowdy boys can take their toll on the interior walls and flooring. The beating sun, snow and rain can slowly deteriorate the exterior, too. Maintaining our home can be a constant and often costly job.
Unlike HGTV where you see a magical transformation of a dilapidated old shack into a stunning modern marvel in a one hour episode, painting one small room in my house can take 6 weeks to a year, depending on the interruptions.
Our list of to-dos is long and continues to grow daily. The projects are bigger than the budget and so we slowly tackle the tasks one thing at a time, often adding jobs to the list before the current project is complete.
I’m a bit of a fixer upper too. Outwardly I am wasting away, but Scripture says inwardly I am being renewed day by day. God is working in me according to His good pleasure transforming my heart and making it more like His.
Unlike house projects, salvation is complete! It was completed on the cross when Jesus said, “It is finished.” Instantly my sins were wiped away when I repented and trusted Jesus as my Savior. That work was accomplished on the cross at Calvary. To continue the house analogy, this time think of House Hunters; I’ve been chosen and bought. Paid for in full with the blood of the Lamb. I am His and He is mine.
The redeeming work is done and as I work out my faith with fear and trembling, the powerful, transforming work of the Holy Spirit are on-going projects in my life. The difficult tasks are big and take time, painful time. Like refining silver or molding clay, the Holy Spirit is carefully shaping my life to look more like His. He takes down the interior walls of bitterness and shame and opens up my heart to His love and healing. He sands off the rough edges in my life where jealously and anger have taken their toll. He takes out the old attitudes of pride, self-importance and self-indulgence and replaces them with His humility and kindness. It doesn’t happen in an hour or a day, but He steadily works with His skilled, loving and nail scarred hands to make me into the person He designed me to be.
So thank you HGTV for helping me see that my value and worth are based on the redemptive, transformative work of a loving Heavenly Father who is a glorious designer of the human heart.
His servant and yours,
Paula Nelson