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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion Thursday, July 31, 2003 "Renovation" |
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Frontline Devotion for Thursday, July 31, 2003 by Pastor Dave Sonnenberg
Everywhere I drive I see signs outside people’s homes. The signs are simple. They list the name of a company that is doing renovations on the inside of the home. You see them all over the place. People are getting roofs done, bathrooms updated, decks added, kitchen’s remodeled, etc.
Renovating something is done for a variety of reasons. Something may have fallen into disrepair and needs fixed immediately. Renovations are done to bring something “up to date”. Renovations are done to bring a new look to something that isn’t appealing to the owner.
Deciding to renovate is easy for some and hard for others. It requires work, energy, and resources to mess with the status quo. But, the mess of renovating is often worth the effort.
I am reading a book by Dallas Willard called Renovation of the Heart. I have only read a few pages, but I can already tell that the book is exceptional. I look forward to reading the entire thing. But, what I can tell you is that the concept of "Spiritual Renovation" is something that has sparked a lot of journaling for me in the last 3 days. I am way more simplistic that Willard, but I look at Spiritual Renovation as our ongoing job in life.
Spiritual Renovation is not something we do on our own. We can’t have true renovation of our heart and soul by some “how to book” like you would find on the self-help bookshelf. Certainly a complete Renovation can come only from God, but you and I can do our best to remain open. We start by saying, “God, what needs to be renovated? Show me so that I can work side by side with you in this effort.”
I leave you with a very open ended concept today, but it is one that I hope that sparks some thinking. I will write further on this idea. In recent days, it became very clear to me that God wants me to focus deeper on my prayer life. In the last 2 years, my devotional life has grown as has my reading of scripture, but the in depth dialogue with God needs to grow. In a nutshell, I want to have a 2003 Spiritual life, not a 1969 or 1985 or even 1995 Spiritual life. I want to continually renovate and be attentive to God’s leadership in my life. Whenever I lose attentiveness to God’s presence, I quickly fall out of date. How about you?
Share with me any thoughts you have. Where might God begin to start a Renovation in your Spiritual life? Would you be open to working with him on that? Where can other people in the faith help our “renovation” efforts?
Prayer: Lord God, take our lives and renovate them according to your will. Mold us in your image. Cast out the things in our life that are hurtful and unhelpful. Let us love you and serve you each day. Amen
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All are welcome to join and share in our Devotional Ministry. Pastor Dave welcomes and appreciates feedback. pastordave@goodshepherdonline.org.