Broken-Down House
I can be reminded of precious truths that God has connected to the physical world I am viewing. This book is written around one modern word picture, the broken-down house. We’ve all seen them—those sagging and dilapidated dwellings that look as if they are in physical pain. As you pass by, you wonder what the house once looked like, who lived in it, and how it got into such a miserable condition. Some of us look at this kind of house and are simply overwhelmed. We quickly move on, not for a moment considering the possibility of restoration. Others of us immediately see potential. We can’t wait to get our hands on the mess and restore it to its former beauty. Well, sin has ravaged the beautiful house that God created. This world bears only the faintest resemblance to what it was built to be. It sits slumped, disheveled, in pain, groaning for the restoration that can only be accomplished by the hands of him who built it in the first place. The Bible clearly tells us that the divine Builder cannot and will not leave his house in its present pitiful condition. He has instituted a plan of restoration, and he will not relent until everything about his house is made totally new again. That is the good news. The bad news is that you and I are living right in the middle of the restoration. We live each day in a house that is terribly broken, where nothing works exactly as intended. But we do not live in the house by ourselves. Emmanuel lives here as well, and he is at work returning his house to its former beauty. Often it doesn’t look like any real restoration is going on at all. Things seem to get messier, uglier, and less functional all the time. But that’s the way it is with restoration; things generally get worse before they get better. So in the pages that follow, I invite you to consider one simple thing. What does it look like to live productively in a world—a “house”—that is broken down? Someday you will live forever in a fully restored house. But right now you are called to live with peace, joy, and productivity in a place that has been sadly damaged by sin. How can you live above the damage? Even
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