I’m a regular user of social media. It’s a time waster, some of the posts cause frustration and even anger at times but sometimes there are some very valuable pieces of information, or helpful advice.
I’m a member of a social media group for the town in which I grew up and quite out of the blue someone posted a request for information about a building that they had recently moved into for the purpose of establishing a studio and craft shop.
It was an old hotel that had been built in the early 20th century and had gone through various stages in its life since then. But what caught my attention was the address. My family had lived in this place for a short time just before I started school. That was.. shall we say … quite a while ago.
At the time our family lived there I remember it was old and dark. The bedroom windows were right on the footpath and passers-by would sit on the window sills. There was no yard and nowhere to play because it was right on the street. I was able to find an old photo which showed just how close it was to being derelict.
The new lessee of the building was delighted to see my old photograph and some other historical photos that people found that showed what it was like in the 1900’s when there were few other buildings nearby. But what excited me was that she posted photos of how the building has been renovated and the way the interior was now a modern and attractive showroom and studio.
It is delightful to see an old building renovated and made new. And that makes me think about how God must think when he sees us being renewed.
There’s a verse in the Bible that says: Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also.
I think of that old hotel where we used to live that has been changed so dramatically that it now not only looks different, but has a quite different purpose as well. When we enter into a relationship with God through Jesus, the change that occurs actually re-purposes us as well.
Instead of being focused on our own needs, or being driven by the pressures of our peer group, or the conflicting demands of our society, we are re-purposed to be people who are living for God’s glory. And that makes a huge difference. We can start to live like Jesus and that means having a different view on life in general, a different idea of what we should be spending our time and energy on, as well as how we spend our money. It’s about having a different focus on life. A different purpose.
That radical change from something old to something new comes through faith in Jesus. He’ll do that renovation work on us as long as we’re willing to allow him. I reckon God is pretty happy when he sees us being renovated from something old and broken down, to become brand new in relationship with Him.
INSPIRE NEWSCAST 