My wife and I have recently began repairing our barn to get it ready for our animals for when cold and snowy weather hits.  We bought our place knowing that the barn was going to need a lot of repairs but I’ve been putting it off because it was going to be a lot of work.  Realizing that winter is going to arrive before we know it, I’ve been busy on my off-days jacking up sections of the barn, repairing the posts and re-setting them in concrete.  After that I’ll need to get on the roof and screw down where it’s been coming loose, and then I’ll have to build another door to replace the one that fell apart.  I’ve discovered that the longer that old barn has been ignored the worse the damage has become.

In life, we sometimes find ourselves in need of repair, with our foundations weak and our supports rotting away.  Most of the time we see the damage being done but we’ve ignored it because it would simply be too much work to make it right; but sooner or later we come to the realization that if we want Jesus to live in our life, we have to allow him to make us fit for His habitation.

That may mean putting a patch here or there to strengthen us.  It may require tearing away the rotted and damaged areas of our life and having them replaced with new supports and foundations.  Or we may be so bad off that what’s needed is to tear down our whole structure to build us back up new again.

Scripture teaches that, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)  The nice thing about our “remodel” is that God does the work, we just have to yield to Him.

I’ve learned from my old barn that it’s much better to take care of the little problems before they become big ones!  I’ve learned from God’s Word that He will help us with those problems if we just let Him!  I encourage you to allow God to make you a new creation, a suitable habitation for Him to dwell, live and love!

(Originally published 6 Oct 11 in The Guidon, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri: http://www.myguidon.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13993)