Week 6: Reuse and Recycle Basic Materials
Read: Haggai 1:5-9, Philippians 4:2-9
Last week we plunged head on into the demolition phase of our extreme makeover the disciple addition. We gutted out all things discovered as no longer useful or usable. Now we are ready to begin re-building. It is time to take a look at what tools, materials and resources we will need. One of the most responsible acts we can perform as we begin rebuilding is to look for building materials we can reuse, restore or even recycle.
In the spirit of becoming more eco-friendly many of the products used on the TV show Extreme Makeover the home edition are made from re-cycled materials. Sometime materials from the “wreck of a house” are salvaged and re-used in the new home in very innovative ways. Often as our community development corporation rehabs a house we have the opportunity to restore an original wood staircase, brick fireplace, or a set of windows thus preserving their historic beauty and value.
Our individual extreme makeover process also calls us to be good stewards regarding useful and usable materials. God has provided material that is 100% re-usable, divinely preserved, and essential for the restoration of our spirits. It is course the stories, teachings and instructions provided in the Holy Scripture.
The OT prophet Haggai was called by God to remind a people who were rebuilding their lives not to forget God, but to recall or recycle in their minds and hearts all the good God does in the lives of God’s people. “Give careful thought to your ways,” the prophet says, alerting us to our tendencies to become distracted by menacing thoughts that pull us away from God.
We would be wise to follow the perfect formula for keeping “God first” that the apostle Paul gives us and his dear friends at the church in Philippi. “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just …if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Following Paul’s invitation will always lead us back to things of God; the basics required for re-building and restoring the beauty and value God sees in each of us.
