Christ works intensely to restore, remake and revive us.
While channel surfing, I came across an interesting TV reality series, Escape to the Chateau. This reality television series follows English couple Dick Strawbridge and Angel Adoree along with their family as they buy and renovate a 19th-century Château in Martigné-Sur-Mayenne, France.
The series starts when Dick and Angel buy a rundown, 45-room home to restore. Uninhabited for the past forty years, the chateau is pretty run down and needs running water, heating, electricity, and many other critical essentials. Throughout the series, they work diligently to restore the chateau room by room.
They encounter a slew of difficulties and challenges along the way. These situations are no surprise to the couple as they’ve said, “After years of searching, we found our forever home, the derelict 19th-century Chateau de la Motte Husson. Complete with a moat, pepper-pot turrets, and 200 pages of purchase documentation listing why not to buy The Chateau.”
Now entering its ninth season, they have been able to remodel a good number of rooms, establish an events business, and spin off additional sources of revenue to continue the restoration. However, the work continues as they still have a long ways to go.
Their story reminds me of how God and the Holy Spirit also work in us when we accept Christ. We, too, are derelict, neglected, rundown, and uninhabitable before giving our life to Christ. However, when we accept Christ, He comes to live in us and make us new again. He works intensely in us and through us to bring us back to life and, ultimately, perfection.
What’s most impressive is that Christ, the ultimate carpenter, doesn’t escape to the chateau but rather runs in to restore, remake and revive us.
Daily Directive:
Answer and Journal the Following
Read:
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Pray:
First pray for insight and understanding of God’s word. Then and most importantly, how to apply it.
Meditate
Contemplate and meditate on or memorize the passage. What is God saying to you?
Show:
How will you apply this to your life?
Share:
How will you share what you learned with others?