Maintain Your House!

Back in 2003, we finally sold our house in England, and bought our house in Hungary with the proceeds. It needed total renovation - new walls and ceilings, some new windows, re-wiring, central heating, new kitchen and bathroom - and by April 2004 we moved into our ‘perfect’ new home.

But as the years passed, some faults appeared. The traditional windows at the front let in draughts and dust, and had to be replaced. The concrete terrace and the steps down to the garden crumbled and were rebuilt. We put on external insulation to cut our heating bills and cure internal mould. Finally, a violent rainstorm revealed that the whole roof needed to be replaced.

What had appeared to be all renewed and perfect was not perfect at all! There were hidden problems which were not visible at first. This is like a picture of our Christian life. At our new birth everything is wonderful, but as time passes, more problem areas are revealed and have to be dealt with one by one. We can call this ‘discipleship’, as God patiently reconstructs our life, and sometimes - as with our new roof - the cost to us may be very high.

Are you aware of something ‘not quite right’ with your life? Don’t ignore it! Don’t think that because you are ‘a new creation’, it will get right by itself. Like a leaky roof, it will only get worse without serious attention. Take advice from a master builder, in this case, God, and do whatever is needed to put things right. You’ll be so glad that you did!

Prayer: Father, I confess that I’d like to ignore the problem areas in my life, or else put off dealing with them. Please show me what I need to do, even if it’s very costly, so that my life can be pleasing to You and bring You glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.