Home Sweet Home

A few weeks ago they did one of those Extreme Home Makeovers in my neck of the woods. It won't air until sometime in May, but it was All The Talk around here. People were donating time and materials and whatever else necessary to make sure our home-town hospitality would shine like a new quarter. Yes indeed, we are GOOD at that. So good, in fact, that we've had them here twice in the past year.

By now it must be obvious to you that homes in my town are of such Great Quality as to require the Extreme Home Makeovers more often than not. Mine could be included in that. But we won't go there.

We went by the house last week. We knew the neighborhood it was in, but not the exact address. It was a warm day, and we had the windows down as we drove up and down the streets in search. A family was sitting out on their porch, so I decided to ask them where the house was. I pulled up in front of their house, and before I could even finish my first sentence they told me it was two streets down, turn left, then take the first right and the house would be down the hill on the right.

These people knew how to give directions without wasting time. And somehow they knew I needed to hear "right and left" instead of "east and west" since I am known far and wide as a directionally-challenged type of person.

So we found the house.

It was built on a slope, and every square inch of land that could be put into usable space, was. The lot was not huge by any means. I was afraid the house would stick out like a sore thumb due to the neighborhood it was in, but somehow it didn't. It blended into the surrounding homes fairly well, even though the front was lit up like a Christmas tree with landscaping lights. It looked cozy; not at all pretentious. It looked like a great place for the large, blended family for which it was built. It looked like a place you would be proud to call HOME.

Home is where you can be yourself. Home is the place where you're accepted. Home is where you LIVE.

The Bible says that Jesus lives in our hearts. Our bodies are the temple God chooses to dwell in... His HOME. What an awesome responsibility that is! The upkeep on a regular home, one that houses the most precious people on earth to you, is bad enough. But when GOD HIMSELF makes your body His home...that's almost beyond my scope of imagination.

Yes, there are times when I wish the whole Extreme Team would do a makeover on this body of mine. But the one thing I need them to do the most can't be done by humans. No surgery, no weight loss, no nip or tuck will take care of the remodel I need. When I'm about to give up on the body I have, I realize one thing....

I have the Extreme Team living inside of me.

Father, Son, Holy Spirit. They work on the part of me that needs help the most. Not this overweight, out-of-shape human that I am. Not this shell my soul uses as temporary housing.

No. They're after much greater things.

They want to tear down the walls of my heart. They want to rebuild it...to make it a new, strong, huge, dwelling place for them. They want what's inside to be built first as a strong foundation. The porticos and the gingerbread and the siding and windows are the last things on their minds. They couldn't care less about the color of my hair or the clothing I wear. What they are interested in is ME.

The true me. The one I am when I'm HOME.

Ephesians 3:17

Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.