“Today,” I say to my wife…
“We can start living in this house!”
We moved a few months ago.
Since then, we have…
Unpacked boxes…
Arranged furniture…
Hung pictures…
Patched holes to cover the ghosts of pictures past…
Put curtains on the windows…
Planted bushes…
Our lives have been consumed by decorating the house.
Now, painting is finished…
Curtains hang on at least some of the windows…
The computer sits on an actual desk…
And as I type this post…
I sit in a chair…
A real chair. Unbelievable.
“Today we can start living in this house,” I repeat.
As I say those words again, they sound foolish even to my own ears.
Did I think things had to be perfect before we could start living our everyday lives in the house?
Good luck with that!
Like every homeowner…
I’ll always have a to-do list.
I wonder…
Could the way I view the house be a metaphor for how I view my soul?
“Soon, God, my soul will be good enough to start living a life for you!”
I can’t start living today for God …
But soon…
Just a little more Bible study…
A few more good deeds…
Just a little more surrender to God’s will…
Someday soon I will say… “I can start living today for God!”
God makes it clear just how foolish I am when I think that way…
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23
He tells me that the answer to my sin and shortcomings lies not in myself…
Not in completing a soul-improvement to-do list…
But in His grace…
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
He tells me to live my life every day as the person He created me to be…
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
To live for the sole purpose of bringing glory to Him…
…whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31
