He found it in his father’s workshop, beat up and weathered almost beyond recognition, its compartments filled with nails and bolts and screws. But that’s not what it was made for.
My cousin Matthias, who lives in Germany, recognized the old secretary as one of the woodworking masterpieces our great-grandfather had hand-crafted in the 1890’s. He paid somewhere around $2,000 to have it restored.
This stunning piece is now displayed in Matthias’ living room.
I’ve often heard about the process of restoration from my father, himself a worker in finely crafted wood products back in the day. (He made me this inlaid-wood jewelry box — what a treasure!)
So when my brother told me the story of the secretary and showed me the picture, I thought of how Jesus restores our lives, based on what my father has told me.
- First, there’s a stripping down to the bare wood.
- Then comes a careful smoothing of the surface.This requires working in the light, so that not even a speck of dust remains to mar the refinished surface.
- Finally the lacquer is reapplied, so glossy that the restorer can see his own reflection when he looks at the piece.
Hmm…sounds a lot like how the Holy Spirit strips off the old, ruined layers in our lives and refinishes us so that we can reflect God’s image again.
So with regard to the secretary that was restored, to whom does it belong?
It belongs to the one who paid for its restoration.
There you have it. Jesus paid for our restoration. That’s why we belong to him. Scripture makes this clear:
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” — I Corinthians 6:19, 20
Paul repeats the words again in the next chapter, “You were bought with a price.”
Do you find this as difficult to accept as I do? Oh, I get it in my head, but my heart wants to sing the tune every American has been brainwashed with, I have rights. I have freedom. I’m the boss of me.
Truth is, I’m not the boss of me. Not if I am a disciple of Jesus. I don’t get to call the shots. He does.
In fact, if you are a believer, God gets to lay claim to you in on three levels.
- He created you. You are made in his image. You are his masterpiece.
- He redeemed you. He paid the ultimate price for you — his own life blood — because he saw the value in you, even when you were stuck in the dark, broken and full of junk you weren’t designed to carry.
- He restores you. He is stripping off layers, smoothing away the little bumps and causing his image to be reflected in you once again.
That’s why we don’t get to be the boss of us anymore. We have been bought with a price — bought by the One who created us in the first place, and who is at work restoring us.
What does that mean, exactly? I believe it means we need to have our minds renewed so that our independent, feelings-first culture doesn’t inform our daily decision-making.
It means we get to say, “Yes, Lord,” and then actually do what he commands.
This is by no means a burdensome thing. God’s intention for you and I is to bring us out of brokenness and futility back to a place where we can shine and function as he designed us.
That’s why I’m glad to trust and obey.
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