November 5th, 2024

Hi Friends, 

It is almost two years since we moved out of our old house and into Tim and Laura’s  basement. Having lived there for more than forty years, there is nothing about that house that  I didn’t work on. I re-landscaped most of the yard, moving about nine thousand pounds of  stone into a retaining wall. I built wrought iron gates to provide access from the alley to the  back yard. We hired a company to replace the shingles on the roof and another company to  replace the eavestrough and yet another company to replace the ancient furnace. During a  year of sabbatical, I completely stripped (with help from a number of you) the exterior of the  house and then put new siding and faux stone on it. With help from others, we developed the  basement and redeveloped the upstairs after the kids moved out. I built a large lean-to shed  on one side of the house. Early in our time there, I built the garage (again, with much help) that  became my workshop and even my church office for awhile. I redeveloped both the upstairs  and downstairs bathrooms and even changed the main plumbing in the house. My dad and I  dug up the sewer and water lines in the basement so as to be able to put a second bathroom  in the house, downstairs. 

What is interesting to me is that, in writing the paragraph above, I spent more time thinking  about that house than I have since we moved out two years ago. Why? Well, my mind has  been occupied with building our new house and garage. Think how weird it would be if I  showed up at the door of my old house today and announced that I was there to put a new  door on the garage or fix the fence. They would look at me as if I was nuts. I don’t live there  anymore! 

I thought of all this today as I was reading Romans 6. Paul says, “In the same way, count  yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your  mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an  instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought  from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of  righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but  under grace.” (Romans 6:11-14) 

That old house is no longer my master. I don’t need to worry about it, to keep it repaired. In  fact, I don’t even need to give it another thought. For all intents and purposes, despite all the  years we lived there, it is essentially “dead” to me, at least in my thinking. I need to focus on  my new house and what I need to do to keep it up. 

Folks, we need to be thinking about our new self, our new Master. This is the way we build a  life in Christ. The old master no longer has any claim on us. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a  fence to finish for my new house. 

Blessings! 

Doug