My sister just bought a home. She purchased it, and now it is hers.
But it needs a bit of work before she moves in, so family and friends have rallied around her to help clean, paint, replace outlets and lights, and lay down new flooring.
Though these endeavors are necessary to move in, they won’t be the end of it, for, as we all know, homes are a work in progress.
But my sister has a vision of what her home will look like in the future, and she knows it will take a lot more time, but already it is beginning to look beautiful; however, this transformation hasn’t come without a few sore muscles.
This is a very poor analogy, but as we near Christmas, I am reminded that the whole reason Jesus came to earth was to ultimately purchase us with a price, (1 Corinthians 6:20) and that price was the shedding of his blood.
And once we decide we don’t want to belong to the prince of this earth, that we desire what God has to offer instead, our for sale sign goes up and the sold sign immediately covers it. We have a new owner. We now belong to God, and with one stroke, He washes us clean.
But that doesn’t mean there still isn’t work to do. God’s vision for us doesn’t come without a few sore muscles. We have old habits to break and new ones to develop; apologies and restorations to make and new ventures to pursue—not to earn our salvation but to work out our sanctification with the help of the Holy Spirit, who nudges, convicts, encourages and transforms.
And just as my sister will see improvements over the years as she invests time, money, and energy into home improvements, so should we and others see proof of our becoming more Christlike as we submit to the working of the Holy Spirit.
But it needs a bit of work before she moves in, so family and friends have rallied around her to help clean, paint, replace outlets and lights, and lay down new flooring.
Though these endeavors are necessary to move in, they won’t be the end of it, for, as we all know, homes are a work in progress.
But my sister has a vision of what her home will look like in the future, and she knows it will take a lot more time, but already it is beginning to look beautiful; however, this transformation hasn’t come without a few sore muscles.
This is a very poor analogy, but as we near Christmas, I am reminded that the whole reason Jesus came to earth was to ultimately purchase us with a price, (1 Corinthians 6:20) and that price was the shedding of his blood.
And once we decide we don’t want to belong to the prince of this earth, that we desire what God has to offer instead, our for sale sign goes up and the sold sign immediately covers it. We have a new owner. We now belong to God, and with one stroke, He washes us clean.
But that doesn’t mean there still isn’t work to do. God’s vision for us doesn’t come without a few sore muscles. We have old habits to break and new ones to develop; apologies and restorations to make and new ventures to pursue—not to earn our salvation but to work out our sanctification with the help of the Holy Spirit, who nudges, convicts, encourages and transforms.
And just as my sister will see improvements over the years as she invests time, money, and energy into home improvements, so should we and others see proof of our becoming more Christlike as we submit to the working of the Holy Spirit.
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