This Ole House

Revelation 21:5 – He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" (NIV)

Driving south from Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, last summer, we came around a curve in the road, and I was startled by the view before me. There was a large hill, on top of which stood the skeleton of what had once been a magnificent house.

The architectural style, the approximate age, the size, and the location indicated that the builder was an affluent homesteader, long before the turn of the previous century. The paint had peeled off; some of the windows were missing, as was some of the clapboard, so that light could be seen filtering through the old house.

As we came closer, I noticed the "For Sale" sign. That house will be bought by someone who can afford to pay for the land on which it stands, which provides such a beautiful view of the lake and valley below. It will be torn down, and another house, possibly even grander, will be built in its place, for it is the land that will be of value to the purchaser.

That "For Sale" sign set my mind in motion with the lyrics of the old song, This Ole House:

Ain't a-gonna need this house no longer…
I'm a-gettin' ready to meet the saints.

I reflected on how much we, ourselves, are like that house on the hill near Kamloops, regardless of our present age. Some day each of us will have no more use for "this ole house" we are living in. Yet, unlike that old house on the hill, there will be no "For Sale" signs on our "houses". The architect, who created us and built us in the first place, will make new "houses", bodies, for us. He has bought us back, in order to build something more beautiful and glorious on the rock on which we stand today, Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:1 – Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. (NIV)

We should not be afraid to see the gradual breakdown of our "houses", but marvel and wonder at the plan that lies, still hidden, on the drawing table of the master architect.

Prayer: Help us, Lord, not to get hung up on the ageing process, but to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, our rock and salvation, the author and finisher of our faith. Amen.

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