Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - God's Remodeling Business

Recently I had the privilege of helping a friend of mine cross the line of faith and begin his relationship with Jesus. It was truly a remarkable experience. I had lunch with him today, and I explained the Christian life to him this way: Suppose a person decides to buy an old rundown house, a place that truly needs restoring from the inside out in every way imaginable. And they decide to fix it up. (Unknown to me, my friend actually did this several months ago, so the illustration really hit home.) Certainly the remodeling won't be an overnight success, and at best, it could take months or even years to make it the way it needs to be.

In the very same way, this is what our life is like the moment we pin all of our hopes on Christ. When we surrender our life to Jesus and He makes us one of His own, we have a new Owner and He takes up residence within us (1 Corinthians 3:16 ). Then we come to find out that we have some real adjustments to make, some remodeling, some major cleaning up to do. We have paint chips lying on the floor. The light fixtures are dangling from the ceiling. There's a moldy smell from the old carpet. The floor isn't level, and the faucets leak. This is because our life's motto before Jesus moved in was the same as that of the four-year-old little boy, "I do it myself." And we all know where that motto got us.

As my friend and I talked, I was reminded that salvation is a moment in time, and it is also a lifelong process. When my friend crossed the line of faith and pinned all his hopes on Jesus to forgive him and rescue him from an eternity without God, his name was written in the Lamb's Book of Life in heaven. That's where he will spend eternity. But it was also the very beginning of a life long journey with Jesus until God calls him home, and it is God's goal to make my friend as much like Jesus as possible during his time on earth (Romans 8:29 ).

Thankfully Jesus never said "Go remodel your house, then I'll be glad to hang out with you." Instead, Jesus says, "Just give Me your life, and let Me help you clean up and remodel what needs fixing. I have a new blueprint for you to live by. The old won't do anymore. And if you'll live by My new one for you, you'll experience My joy and blessing. Don't settle any longer for a house that's run down and dirt trodden."

As you help others along in their spiritual journey, offer them the encouraging reminder that God has an incredible plan for them that includes a complete remodeling by Jesus of their inner life so that they can learn to live a life that pleases Him in every way.