Reclaimed

“I love the reclaimed barn wood,” she exclaimed with excitement as she viewed the newly remodeled space.  The camera panned throughout the room, pausing on various features to emphasize the transformation as the homeowner commented with delight.  The design choices surprised me with a tasteful blend of modern contemporary and rustic chic, a combination I would not have considered.  Yet, with the help of a professional designer it worked nicely.  Soon the home improvement television show ended, and we busied ourselves with our own home tasks.

A few days later, the remodeling show swirled in my thoughts as I remembered …

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.  And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.  We implore you on Christ’s behalf:  Be reconciled to God.     2 Corinthians 5:17-20 NIV  

Just as an old house, like the one on the show, can be gutted and completely remodeled, our thoughts and motives can be transformed and later revealed through our choices and actions.  And as the remodeling of a home requires time, talent, and hard work, so too, will our internal transformation.  One day at a time, one step at a time, choice after choice, our transformation is made.  Seemingly insignificant moments build one upon another and our character is transformed. Of significance to our progress are the materials and design choices we make.   

So as we begin a new year full of possibility, wonder and adventures yet to be experienced, what improvements will we determine to make?  Who will we consult for assistance?  Where will we go to find the needed materials and supplies?  Are we filling up our hearts and minds with pop cultural media, social networks, and secular movies, or with quality reading materials and spiritual inputs?  Like remodeling a physical space, where can we find valuable supplies to transform us from the inside out?

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.   Romans 12:2 niv