We recently started a flooring project at the church. We’ve been talking about it for years, and it’s finally happening. Well, like any other project of this magnitude, it started growing. Some of the ladies said that they would like to see the “popcorn” ceiling gone so that was put on the list, and then there’s this wood paneling that goes ½ way up the wall that has always kinda stuck in my craw. So what better time to take care of these things than now?
As I was doing a little experimenting on removing the “popcorn” from the ceiling in one of the classrooms (by the way, a garden hoe worked really well for me) God started showing me some things.
II Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”. (NKJV)
For all things to become new the old, undesirable things have to be stripped away. If we were to put a new laminate floor over the top of the 36-year-old “shag” carpet that was in that room it wouldn’t have lasted to long. But that’s what some try to do when they hear of Jesus. They really don’t want the old things to pass away, so they try to put the new over the old, and before long the new is no longer a desirable thing and is done away with. These people will generally say “Well we tried that, and it didn’t work.”
But even if we pull up that old carpet, clean, and re-fasten the sub-floor so that we have a good long-lasting floor, all things haven’t become new. This is where the “popcorn” ceiling, and the paneling come in. Both things tie the building to the era that it was built. For all things to become new they have to be gone. Well, the “popcorn” ceiling came down in that little classroom so easily, that we all decided that was a good thing to do. Now I was the one who just really doesn’t like that paneling, and being the Pastor, no one really fought me about it too hard. It had been painted over to match the drywall a few years ago and wasn’t quite as noticeable. But it was still there. I pulled a sheet loose and it came down so easily that I thought this won’t be bad at all. After 36 years the adhesive had crystalized and just let go. Then we ran into some that didn’t turn loose so easily. I looked at that and thought, that’s going to be a lot of work! The thought occurred to me that we could just finish up what I had started and leave the rest of the paneling in place.
That’s what a lot of Christians do. They get rid of the old carpet and put down a solid floor…foundation…Jesus Christ, then they start turning loose and letting old things pass away. Things are looking pretty good. But there’s that one thing. That thing that has been painted over, covered up, but it’s still there. They know that it needs to go, but it’s going to be a lot of work to get it gone. So, a lot of times we just accept some things in our lives that are kind of covered up, but just aren’t right, because we realize how hard it’s going to be to get rid of it. It may be something like an addiction to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or pornography. Maybe it’s an idol you still hold on to, that idol could be yourself. Jesus took that sin on Himself, He took it for you because you are not capable of dealing with it on your own. You can only cover it up so that it may not be as noticeable, only Jesus can take away your sin. Let Him have all of it, not just the things that you want to give up. If you’re reading this and God is dealing with you, only you know your heart. Let the Holy Spirit have His way in you no matter how difficult it is, the end result will be well worth the effort. Let’s all make sure that we can say, in all honesty that “…old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”