Last week we received an update letter from a Christian campground we’ve camped at before. This beautiful property has undergone some excellent upgrades in recent years, the latest of which is the construction of a new Ministry Center. To make room for it in the right place, they had to tear down the old one. The old center wasn’t gross, awful, unusable, or hazardous, and could still function as a place for Bible studies, the cafeteria, a snack/coffee shop, gift shop, and registration. But anyone could see the wear on it, inside and outside, and no one knew what would break down next, start leaking, or become aesthetically repulsive as it wore out.

So, the governing board decided it needed not only some here-and-there renovation and remodeling, but total reconstruction. Having raised funds for that, they demolished the old one, gutting it out and tearing it down. They then broke ground for the new building. One big mess ensued afterwards as construction began. Bits and pieces of debris, building materials, sawdust, tools, and junk lay everywhere, looking like the ravages of war. The word “condemned” could now easily describe what once appeared to be a serviceable, functional, building, even if it did have a few “issues”.

Why let that happen, then? Why not leave it be and not bother it? Or why not just do some cosmetic makeovers and facelifts for appearance’s sake, and perhaps some minimal fix-it’s, if necessary, to keep things in working order? Why go through all the cost, time, effort, pain, and mess of total reconstruction?

And yet isn’t that exactly what the Lord does with us, when we give our lives to Him? When we sing and ask Him to “Change my heart, O God…”, we expect Him to do a bit of tinkering here and there and leave the rest in place. If we had known He was going to start total reconstruction of us, we may not have let Him take ownership in the first place!

Or have we let Him? Maybe we “received” the Lord, but where have we placed Him? In the entryway where He won’t disturb any of the furniture? In the guest room? In the front room, safely on our finest sofa, where He can make our public area look nicer? Maybe even in the kitchen where Holy Spirit can “cook up” some fine dishes to impress company? Or have we signed over the Title Deed of ourselves to Him? If we have, that gives Him ownership of our lives, and the right to totally reconstruct our hearts, spirits, and minds.

To say we have the Lord in our lives, means He’s Lord of our lives. And yes, surrendering our lives to Someone who tears down our walls and makes things worse, messy, and even publicly embarrassing can be very scary. But all that tear-down and evident mess have to occur in order for us to become the best He designed us for, in His image, with His character, with true beauty inside and out, free of dysfunction, shame, besetting sin, and relational strife.

“For if we have been united with him [Christ] in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self¹ was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” Rom. 6:5-6

He does it lovingly, because “God is love” (1 Jn. 4:8), meaning He always has the best intentions for us. It hurts like crazy sometimes. It exposes our worst in ways we’d rather not have exposed. It brings out a lot of junk in our hearts we thought we’d gotten rid of long ago but were really just stuffed and hidden away in “closets” of our subconscious. But “revealing is the beginning of healing”.

The Lord will never force total reconstruction on us because He’s given us free choice in order for the love relationship to be real. But He’s ready to break ground and begin the process as soon as we let Him. But, just like new ministry centers, there’s no question it will be worth it all when He completes the good work He’s begun in us, which He will, even if it takes our whole lives (Phil. 1:6).

Let Him start now as we anticipate the new year, with this promise:

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Cor. 3:18