The Building

First a little history. I used to work for a printing company as a press operator. I worked there for 4 1/2 years. Working there involved long hours and a business owner with an uncontrollable temper. It was not uncommon to start work at 7:00 AM and not leave until 9:00 PM. The next morning the owner would come in screaming about all that we did not get done! During my time there I met the owner of the building (the landlord). He was a different kind of guy. The landlord and the printshop owner we're always arguing about something, usually regarding much needed building repairs. Neither of them liked the other. I started a new job and would ocassionally stop by to visit my former coworkers. A couple of years ago the building burned and the business relocated. During the fire the building was gutted. The outside of the building was concrete and withstood the fire. Everything inside was burned.
Fast forward to yesterday. I drove past this building. The inside was never rebuilt. Yesterday I noticed the unusual part. They painted the outside of this building and the adjoining buildings. As I drove past I could see through the windows, it was an empty cement slab with nice paint on the outside. While the exterior had new paint, within the walls it was dead and lifeless.

I think there is a lesson here.

Often times we try to put on new paint or put on a new face. Inside we are lifeless, a cold dead slab with walls that could house something great. In Ephesians 2:1-6, we are dead IN trespasses and sin, but God who is rich in mercy brings us to life and joins us together with Christ. Unlike this building owner, God works from the inside out, rather than the outside in.

Weather today: Raining (still!). 58 degrees and getting cooler as the day goes on. Snow a lower elevations this evening and tomorrow.

-Norm