The House
By Jerry Ousley
"This is the
coolest house ever!" We had been living in a rented apartment in
Kendallville, Indiana. Dad and Mom had purchased a house just a
few blocks away from the complex where we had lived. I don't
remember what they paid for the house but it was a real
"fixer-upper." The outside wasn't so bad but on the inside it
had been gutted. The drywall had huge gaping holes in it to the
point that you could actually walk from room to room without
ever going through an actual door. But to kids it was the
neatest place in the world. It was fun going through the walls!
Today we'd think we were being punished for something bad in our
lives if we lived like that.
There weren't enough fans to go around and we didn't really know
what air conditioning was then. We'd put a screen in the window
and let Mother Nature cool us with her gentle breezes. The house
was really hot because if I remember correctly the drywall was
even gone from the ceiling. That of course allowed even more
heat into the house.
At first, while Dad spent his every spare second making this
place comfortable and livable, we piled our toys in a big heap
outside the door and covered them with a tarp or something.
Again we didn't view this as a hardship or as being poor because
it only meant that our toys were at our fingertips. How many
other kids do you know that had their own toy pile right by the
door and didn't have to worry about their mother screaming, "Put
up your toys!" They were already put up.
We had tricycles and a pedal car and we wore a path in the yard
that extended all the way around the house. During the summer
we'd spend our days playing in that yard and the woods beside
our house. If it had rained some very nice mud puddles formed in
front where we could float boats and have all kinds of imaginary
fun. When it was dry we'd raise the dust racing around the house
on our path. To us life was great at our "new" house.
Many viewed it as a dump. Oh that's not to say that Mom didn't
keep it cleaned. She did. And as Dad finished a room things were
properly put away and organized. It took several months but soon
Dad finished the inside and you couldn't tell that it had been
in such bad shape. To tell the truth I have a lot of fine
memories about that house and go back there sometimes in my
mind. As a child it was hard to understand why they had to do so
much work on it. It was very unique the way it was. But it had
to be done. It had to be finished so as to keep out some of that
smothering heat in the summer and the cold windy blasts in the
winter.
That house reminds me of how many choose to live their lives
today. While they would never think of living in a house like we
started with the house of their souls is in just as bad a shape
if not worse. Many live their lives like a house full of holes
that are in dire need of patching up.
It doesn't seem that way to them because it's fun. Why fix
something that seems to be working? But is it really working? In
reality they are living their lives in a dump and don't even
realize it. But things can be patched up. 1 Corinthians 5:17
tells us that if we have come to Christ then we are a new
creation and the old things have been done away with making room
for all new things. That's what Christ wants to do for each and
every one of us. He wants to recreate us into a brand new
person. We may still look the same to the natural eye but when
He comes into our lives we are made over again from the inside
out. He patches the holes that have been caused by the vandals
of the soul. He reworks the ceilings that have been broken
through and fills them with new insulation to keep out the
intruding weather that brings harm to the soul.
We may think that our old house is a lot of fun. We may enjoy
the chaos of our spiritual selves, or at least we think we do.
But that's only because we have never experienced the newness of
life that only Jesus Christ can give. He offers it to each of us
today. All we have to do is to accept it. How about it? Need
some new drywall in your life? Try Jesus.
Jerry D. Ousley is the Author of three books, "Soul Challenge",
"Soul Journey" and "Ordeal." Listen to our daily broadcast
Spirit Bread. Find out more by visiting www.spiritbread.com
or email us at jousley@spiritbread.com
