(Rehab Planet Earth!)
Just about everyone has their own horror stories about moving! What should be a great experience of relocation often turns into a nightmare of paper-signing, open house, and packing. The twists and turns of selling and moving can be mind-boggling for sure.
One year, when Bob and I were in the process of pulling up stakes yet again, we had a guy at our church who was very old and very opinionated and had some very special words of wisdom for us young movers: “Moving is hell,” he tells us. Ha! That was it. “Moving is hell.” I always told him, “Vic, you can’t say that in the church” but he thought we should know so we heard it a lot.
Since then, we have moved several more times, always challenging, but we loved the opportunity to fix up another house, inside and out. There’s just something exciting about tackling a fixer-upper and making it yours! And we’re not the only ones who think this way — I mean, who can miss all those home renovations shows on TV these days: Flip or Flop, Yard Crashers or Property Brothers, etc.
So what’s my point? Well, I have a theory. I believe that man, being made in the image of God, has an inbred knack for fixing up and restoring things. I believe God has put within man a special DNA to create and restore – we can call it “God’s Rehab Gene.”
What is it about humans that love flipping houses or tearing down older buildings and putting up brand new ones? Think about it; we don’t see birds with cute, trendy nests or rabbits designing cutting-edge, cost-efficient burrows. And what about those tiny, little ants? You’d think that maybe by this time they could come up with something more up-to-date than tunneling! But they aren’t made in the image of God either, are they?! It’s like James Thurber says: “it is not enough to be industrious; so are the ants. What are you industrious about?”
That thought was wonderfully addressed in the very first chapter of the Bible by God. Genesis 1:26 tells us something pretty amazing. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and the cattle and all the earth… “One translation says humans were to “take charge and be responsible” for things on the earth. That was the command God gave to man; the earth was man’s responsibility. All of it. What are we to be industrious about? Our earth for starters! As someone once said: “There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew!”
Could that be the reason we derive such satisfaction from working, tending to yards and gardens, and the appearances of our homes? I think it is. Again, this is a unique feature found only in humans; God intentionally put this ‘Rehab Gene’ into our DNA when he created us.
This is why my home currently has cute pumpkins on the dining room table and why my fireplace mantel has a beautiful stream of fall leaves with lights strung over it. And this is why come Christmas; all the decor will change yet again. I like the way Barbara Sher puts it: “We are like violins. We can be used for doorstops, or we can make music.” So let’s make the music. Let’s do our best to make our earth-homes look fabulous and reflect the artistry, creativity, and stewardship that God has intended.
“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world. You impoverish yourself if you forget this errand.”
~ Woodrow Wilson
Pastors Bob and Susan Beckett pastor The Dwelling Place City at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet. For more information, you can visit them at www.DPCitychurch.com
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