From Max Lucado and the preamble to his book “Just Like Jesus”:
My writing room is different. Just a few months ago these walls were white. Now they’re green. Once these were curtain covered; today they are shielded by shutters. My chair used to sit on tan carpet, but the tan has be replaced by carpet. It looked fine to me. Nor did I object to the white walls and curtains. From my perspective the room looked fine.
But not from my wife’s perspective. Denalyn loves to decorate. Better said, she has to decorate. She can no more leave a house unchanged than and artist can leave a canvas untouched or a musician a song unsung.
Fortunately she limits her remodeling to what we own. She’s never shuffles the furniture in a hotel room or reorganized pictures In the houses of friends. (Though she has been tempted.) She only remodels what we possess. But mark it down, what we possess will be remodeled. For Denalyn, it’s not enough to own a house; she has to change the house.
As for me, I’m content with owning the house. My tastes are, shall we say, less sophisticated. In my view a chair and a refrigerator go a long way toward award winning interior design. For me the herculean task is purchasing the house. Once the transaction is complete and the house is bought, I’m ready to move and rest.
Not so with Denalyn. As the ink is drying on the deed, she is moving in and remodeling. I wonder if she inherited this habit from her Father, her heavenly Father. You see, the way Denalyn views a house is the way God views a life.
God loves to decorate. God has to decorate. Let him live long enough in a heart, and that heart will begin to change. Portraits of hurt will be replaced by landscapes of grace. Walls of anger will be demolished and shaky foundations restored. God can no more leave a life unchanged than a mother can leave a child’s tear untouched.
It’s not enough for him to own you; he wants to change you. Where you and I might be satisfied with a recliner and refrigerator, he refuses to settle for any dwelling less than a palace. After all, this is his house. No expense is spared. No corners are cut. “Oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him” (Eph. 1:19 MSG)
This might explain some of the discomfort in your life. Remodeling of the heart is not always pleasant. We don’t object when the Carpenter adds a few shelves, but he’s been known to gut the entire west wing. He has such great aspirations for you. God envisions a complete restoration. He won’t stop until he is finished. And he won’t be finished until we have been shaped “along the . . . lines . . . of his Son” (Romans 8:29 msg).
Your creator is remaking you into the image of Christ. He wants you to be just like Jesus. This is the desire of God and the theme of this book. ~~~Max Lucado, Just Like Jesus, World Publishing, Nashville, A Thomas Nelson Company, p. IX-XI
