The Great Carpenter

My family and I went to GC for the weekend. We finished fixing up our
house for our renters on Saturday who moved in that afternoon. We would
rather sell the house but we are very happy to be getting some income to
at least offset the mortgage payment plus we don't have to pay the
electric bill or water like we were so that will help us out a lot.

I had a really good weekend though. It was great to see my family and
friends. I feel rested and refreshed and even Church on Sunday morning
seemed better than usual. Jeff spoke about Holiness and how as Christians
we are on a journey to achieve holiness. It is a constant struggle
between this world and Heaven. He gave the example of Billy Graham
weeping in a small group of pastors about how he wants to be a Holly man
and he wanted them to pray for him everyday.

That helps me to see just how far from holiness I am. We get in a rut in
our lives sometimes where we are blinded to our own sin and our own
shortcomings. We think that we are "fine" but in reality we are just
used to the comfortable state of our lives. It reminds me of the C.S.
Lewis illustration about how when we become Christians and The Great
Carpenter Jesus comes in and starts fixing up this run down shack of a
life that we live in. First he fixes the leaky roof, plants a lawn and
some trees and flowers. Puts in some new carpet to get rid of that nasty
smell and throws on a fresh coat of paint.

We step back from it and say, "Wow this is just great! Much, much better
than before." Jesus says, "Yes that is better, but we are only getting
started." Then he starts knocking out walls, jacking up the crumbling
foundation, putting up a new wing here, adding a floor there. And we say,
"Whoa, whoa Jesus, whats going on. We had a nice thing going here!" We
were happy with our nice and comfy little cottage but Jesus is building a
mansion!! Why would He settle for anything less, He plans on living in it
himself!

We are ecstatic when Jesus helps us get rid of our obvious sins or things
that hinder us from a productive life. It is great when He helps us
overcome our addictions to gambling, drinking, smoking, womanizing or
whatever, but when he wants us to stop cheating on our taxes or gossiping
or worst of all he wants to start developing patience in us, well that
makes us uncomfortable, that starts to become an inconvenience.

So that is kind of where I was, comfortable with myself. God shook that
up a little on Sunday morning through Jeffs sermon and the worship. He
started knocking down some walls, and I think I saw him go down into the
basement carrying a few house jacks...