Christian Perspectives – Demolition

July 2, 2014 · 0 Comments

When we moved to our current home some 13 years ago, we discovered the garden shed. Actually it was bigger than a shed, maybe more like a mini barn. It was sitting toward the back of the property half hidden by some trees and bushes with an interesting collection of old stuff in and outside. Someone told us it used to belong to the rail road (there was a rail line of Toronto to Owen Sound). A previous owner bought the building and moved it to the property we now own.

It was in pretty bad shape when we moved here. At that time we evicted the raccoon family living in the shed and cleaned it up a bit and stored our garden tools in it. Sometime after that a friend of our oldest son dropped by for “just a few days”. He was actually in a rough spot in his life and we allowed him to stay with us for a few weeks. After a while the 2 guys came up with a plan to fix up the garden shed so that at least one of them could move in. So they started the work. The shed was cleaned, insulated and dry walled. One of the 3 old woodstoves was cleaned up and was going to supply the heat. Windows and electricity were installed…. All in all it turned into a nice little Bunkie or teenage bachelor pad. (Even though it had no running water or plumbing)

Our “guest” moved in and actually lived quite comfortably for about 5-6 months before moving on.

After he moved out the shed was once again used for storage and it became a resting place for all kind of unwanted items. One spring time, my wife thought we should organize the mess and clean things up. That was when we found out that a whole family of squirrels had spent the winter upstairs. They made holes in the roof, damaged the drywall and ripped apart the insulation and the stink…..Unbelievable! That’s when we decided the shed had to go. With the promise of an all you can eat BBQ we enticed friends from both our sons to come and take down the shed. We ordered a big bin for the day. Shingles, drywall and insulation went into the bin for disposal, we saved and cut up the wood for our fire pit in the back yard; the scrap metal was donated to a charity. After a hard day’s work the shed was gone!

Well there is a lesson in here somewhere. First of all, the shed did not have a foundation. It was just sitting on the dirt. It was pretty obvious that the beams that carried the floor and walls were totally rotten; they literally crumbled into my hands. That brings to mind the wise and foolish builders. (Matthew 7: 24-27) Building your house (or garden shed) on the dirt is not any better that building it on the sand. Trying to fix things up, was really a waste of time, eventually things just rot away making everything dangerously unstable, creating opportunities for critters to come in to damage and destroy. So it is with our lives: if we do not have a firm and solid foundation, i.e. Jesus Christ, our lives too will eventually become dangerously unstable. We are leaving ourselves vulnerable to damage and sometimes to destruction by forces that are gladly take advantage of our weaknesses. We really don’t have to look far to see this. It can happen in our own lives or in the lives of those around us.

Fixing up the old shed seemed like a good idea: While it made things look presentable and useable, but at the core things were rotten and beyond repair. So it is with each of our lives: we might look good and smell good but at the core things don’t look so rosy. How many of us lead “double lives” We chase after the almighty buck or try to advance our careers at all cost. But look a beyond the façade or dig little deeper, and we see desperately unhappy people who live lives with little or no meaning. . Many will try to escape perhaps thru materialism others might turn to substance abuse, anything to escape the unhappy reality or dull the pain.

What is needed is a “demolition” a tearing down of the old. Just like our shed was beyond repair, we to have to come to the realization our lives are beyond salvaging. Nothing we can do in ourselves will be able to accomplish this. All we manage to do is to come up with “band-aid” solutions that are temporary and won’t last. What we need is a radical and complete change, a fresh start; a new beginning.

Are you ready for a fresh and new start? Invite God to become part of your life. He won’t force himself on you. Will you trust Him to take away your junk and debris, the baggage that burdens your life? He will take it if you give it to Him. After you allow Him to cart away your “old life” God just doesn’t patch you up, or slap on a band-aid, He completely renews and restores you: a fresh new life, a new creation.

Are you fed up with the old self, do you long for something new and fresh? Take a chance and allow God to give you new life! (Matthew 11: 28-30)

John Oorebeek Highlands Youth For Christ