“Living wood” the display says….

Living?

A strange description for something planed and sanded and finished into a table.

The uneven edge, says the poster…

Reveals the true nature of the wood, and makes it living wood.

The top of the table is sanded smooth and varnished…

So is the bottom of the table and both ends…

But its two sides are supposedly

“Raw”

“Real”

“Living”

Wait…

Doesn’t living wood grow?

Doesn’t living wood sway in the breeze…

Produce green sprouts in the spring…

And change daily with the wind and sun and water?

The only change left for the wood in this table is decay…

The decay that comes to all things not living.

As I look at the table…

I begin to see it as a metaphor for what I say about my soul…

“My soul is alive to God,” I say.

To prove it’s alive…

I expose one small part of it to the world…

“Look!” I say…

“This is the raw me…”

“The real me…”

“The is my living soul.”

In truth, some parts of my soul are as dead as the wood in the table.

…you were dead in your transgressions and sins…  Ephesians 2:1

Awaiting the miracle of rebirth in Christ…

…“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” John 3:3

We often say that God is smoothing out our rough spots.

Maybe what he really wants to do is rip off the smooth, phony veneer behind which we hide our rough spots…

To put our raw selves…our real selves…in plain view.

So that we will no longer pretend we are living, when we are dead…

So that we will recognize the futility of our own efforts.

So that we will surrender to God.

Who stands ready to rescue us from the decay of death…

And deliver us into vibrant life with Him.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16