Sanctification and HGTV

You might be thinking – What in the world? What does sanctification and HGTV have in common?

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One word: potential.

Probably this word is used over and over and over again. Has it been over used? Maybe, but that is what Chip and Joanna Gaines, Drew and Jonathan Scott, and Alison Victoria see when they see a house. The clients might see an ugly house, especially what the previous owner did to their house. The clients might write off a house that has been abandoned or falling down, but the Gaines, Jonathan Scott, and Alison see possibilities.

In a way, God might look at humans and see the same.

…ashes to ashes, dust to dust…

God formed us out of the dust, a highly common substance. Our souls are not much prettier; David the psalmist says our soul clings to dust. Not a very good depiction either. Yet God decides to work on us once we became a Christian. And I see a lot of parallels:

1. The clients buy a house from the previous owner. God redeems us from sin and the devil.
2. Joanna Gaines or Jonathan Scott will devise a blueprint that is tailor made to their clients’ needs, wants, and style. No two houses are alike. Likewise, God has a blueprint that is just for you. My walk is not the same as my brother’s, or my friend Jennifer’s, or my pastor’s.
3. Demo Day; Chip loves Demo Day. And who doesn’t? The chance to swing a 10lb sledgehammer to break down a wall, or use a crowbar to rip out dry wall, or rip out that ugly carpet from the 1970s. We too have a Demo Day in our soul; God needs to rip out the broken parts of our lives, the parts that don’t work.
   1. Maybe we have an addiction – alcohol, drugs, porn, gambling. That has to go.
   2. We might curse a lot or use profanity. Just as the contractors have to change the HVAC, the fire place and electrical, God changes our output too. It’s no use getting upset when we hear non-believers curse at the gym. They haven’t done their demo yet, but we have.
4. Bringing major items up to code:
   1. often, Chip or Jonathan will find major problems: the pipes are the wrong place or the wrong size, electrical wiring was the wrong wire or illegally spliced, and so forth.
   2. our souls have plenty of things that need to bring up to code – putting God and others first, learning to obey God’s commandments: the law of love.
5. Putting in the new:
   1. new windows, doors, floors. It’s always great to see the latest in certain designs. There was one episode of Fixer Upper where Joanna had this metal engraving that was the size of a wall with the US Army’s song The Army Go Rolling Along – for a US Army veteran.
   2. God is putting in something new in our soul, not necessarily new carpets and walls, but what about new values? A new heart? Just because I am a Christian, it doesn’t automatically mean I become a muscular hunk (I am still a skinny, 130 lb man). However, by God’s grace, I have become strong spiritually, and God sees me differently in Christ.

This brings me to the last one; time.
It takes about 7-8 weeks of renovation from start to finish. It takes us a lifetime. Our soul is way more delicate than a house and it gives us some comfort.