under new ownership

Twice a year when I come back to visit my parents, I always make it a point to exercise by walking the neighborhood.  The proverbial "walk down memory lane" is actual and beneficial physically, emotionally, and spiritually for me.  This morning I found myself walking in single digit weather (with no gloves on), snow falling delicately on the homes and yards.  Childhood images began traipsing through my mind.  Images of sleds, kids dressed from head to toe in insulated gear, and sled tracks on the hills of my neighborhood filled my head.

In the midst of all this nostalgia, some very in-my-face realities become clear. 

• Many homes have changed quite a bit since my childhood days.
• My childhood friends no longer live here.
• Even if I moved back to this neighborhood, it wouldn't be the same.
• The glory days of childhood are long gone.

But, there is one home that has drastically improved since my childhood days.  Unrecognizable, really.  If it weren't for it's location, I would not know it.  You see a few years ago it was sold because its owners could no longer keep it up.  They were aging (parents of my childhood friends) and were just letting it go.  It had become something of an eyesore.  But then it was bought by an investor, someone with vision. Pretty much every surface was touched in renovation.  New siding, windows, roof, driveway, landscaping...and that was just the outside.  I checked online with the realty company that listed it and saw the inside transformation in the pictures they'd taken.  Wow.  Beautiful!  It was a gem.  After a quick sale, the house was under new ownership...but this time by folks who would live in it.  And they have proven to be very good caretakers.  The house continues to keep its lovely new look due to its careful inhabitants.

And as I thought about this home today, I realized that God has taken up ownership of me in a very similar way.  Bought me.  Refurbished me.  Made me something more than I could ever have been under my own caretaking.  All my best efforts could never have kept up with the wear and tear of my own sin.  Sin and death would have taken their toll on me in the way I thought and acted, making me an eyesore, so to speak.  But now, there is life in me.  True life.  Eternal life.  Spirit-given life.  I am under new ownership.  And God always takes care of what belongs to Him.  Not only that, he continually improves me as I entrust myself to him.  Though my outer self may deteriorate over time, my inner person will continue to grow and thrive under his care. 

"You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ"  

I Pet. 2:5