Making Old Things New Again

There are times (and I love them!) when doing something that would seem to be so out of the Spiritual realm, so earthly in and of itself, that one would never imagine that God could use it as a way to impress His truth on the one doing it.  (I know that is a run on sentence that doesn't say much!)  Let me explain...  Yesterday I spent the better part of the day reupholstering my dining room chairs--to be honest, I only completed one, but I did cut the fabric pieces for all--and in the quiet of the day, God was speaking to me about the spiritual significance of " making old things new again".  Its always astonishes me that God is so mindful of me, that He would take the time to speak to me and comfort me right where I am at!  

As I took off the old fabric from the chair, I couldn't help but see how dirty it was and how it had worn and faded in the last 16 years.  The staples I removed were rusted and even though they were still doing their job of holding the fabric in place, when I went to remove them, they crumbled.  I noticed that the underside of the fabric, the parts that weren't exposed to the world, were clean and bright; still looking new.  I began to think about how this world and all the exposure to the  "elements" of sin, can attach themselves to us, simply by being around them.   I looked at the stains on the old fabric and thought about the "stains" that sin had left on me.  I saw where the old fabric was frayed and pulled apart and couldn't help but  remember that I too had been frayed and pulled apart from God.

I think David, in Psalm 51, realized all of this too.  He prayed, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, perservering and steadfast Spirit within me."  As Christians, we are made new again in Baptism through the Grace of God.  We are cleansed from all sin.  It is an awesome gift!  In addition to that gift, the Bible is pretty clear, that we must be continually washed: in the renewing of our minds by the Word of God, through prayer and fasting, through repentence and the list goes on.  While the gift of Salvation is once and for all, a done deal so to speak; the work of regeneration continues on until our last breathe.

Simply put, being in this world, we are going to get dirty!  There is no way around it.  We cannot hide from it.  We are called to be in this world but not OF this world.  We are also called to be a light to this world.  It is my opinion that we cannot be salt and light unless we are reupholstered by the Spirit  on a regular basis.

I enjoyed so many dinners around the table, sitting on these chairs with family and friends.  Laughing, celebrating, praying, crying, encouraging and teaching.  These chairs have seen alot!  The chairs still have alot of years of use in them, they just needed a new canvas.  I'm alot like the chairs--I needed a new canvas for God to write on too.  That's the real reason for my move to Savannah.  My hope is that there will be many more friends, new friends and old, sitting on these chairs.  Eating, celebrating, laughing, learning and encouraging one another:  Making old things new again!