Dear Faith Family,

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator, (Colossians 3:8-10).

Recently a friend of mine gave a desk to me.  A nice desk, it is.  However (You knew that was coming, didn’t you?), the desk had a couple of issues.  It needed a facial.  The top of the desk had a beautiful finish except where it didn’t.  You know, like where the finish was chipped.  It also needed a cast.  It had a broken leg.

Let the story begin.  Once hoisted (with a degree of difficulty I might add) into the back of the truck, the sanding commenced.  After a long and strenuous attempt (5 minutes?) I realized that the sanding thing wasn’t going to work.  At least not nearly fast enough!  So, into the closet I did go in search of the can of stripping gel that would help to remove the finish from the top of the desk.

I brushed the chemical onto the desktop.  It soaked into the finish.  The finish began to bubble and I was able to scrape off the old finish.  Wow!  Underneath of that marred finish was a beautiful maple desktop.  But not to get ahead of myself, the removal of the old finish was painfully arduous.

Isn’t that what our loving Father does for us?  He calls us to strip away the old finish (anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk, lying).  And He knows that we need help in that endeavor.  So, He applies the sometimes-stinging gel of people and circumstances to cause the old finish to bubble up.  Ouch!  See, that old finish distorts His new creation.

The desk is resting in my office awaiting the final sanding process before receiving its new finish.  I can’t wait to see what it looks like with a new finish!

Again, isn’t that what our loving Father does for us?  He calls us to put on the new finish (compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, love).  And He knows that we need help in that endeavor.  So, He applies the soothing gel of His presence to enable the glow of His character to shine in our lives.

In His workshop,
Pastor Karl