Current Beauty
As I research the trends in television these days it is obvious that programing has changed over the past thirty years. It appears that some of the most popular and regularly viewed programs involve taking an old, run-down house and remaking it into a thing of current beauty. Some shows approach it from a contractor’s viewpoint as the hosts engage you in their plan and progress in remodeling their project from start to finish. Others search out some disadvantaged person who needs help in dealing with their out-of-control house problems, and complete the makeover free of charge as a gift to the deserving recipient.
Either way, audiences are captivated and intrigued as old walls are torn down, undiscovered obstacles are overcome, new and up-to-date styles and furnishings are used and interesting techniques are displayed. The before-and-after pictures produce a sense of the miraculous as the owners are overwhelmed by surprise that their old house could look so new!
I guess what makes these shows so popular is that by the end of the program you have seen and visually participated in the process of rejuvenation in creating a thing of current beauty, all of which gives you the sense of a job well done – even though you never lifted a finger. Ah, the magic of TV!
God has been in the business of renovating broken lives far longer than any of those reality shows have been fixing houses. Jesus set the stage for the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit in changing our sin-riddled lives, by rising from the dead: thus declaring that new life is available to anyone who would follow Him on the path of the crucified life. He said that those who would lose their life for His sake would find their life and find it in abundance! (Luke 9:24; John 10:10)
Just like resurrecting an old house requires an almost complete demolition of the old stuff, so the new life that God offers us cannot be mixed with our old ways of sin and selfishness. As we “crucify” the old man, the Holy Spirit brings us the power of the resurrection through His presence and instruction of God’s word. God begins the wonderful process of making us new, recreating us as a person of current beauty (on the inside) that will culminate in total salvation when we step into His presence for all eternity!
How exciting to be His people,
Pastor David Vanderpool
