In with the New

Someone once asked me what my favorite holiday was. Unequivically, New Years! I love the concept of new, fresh, starting over. Likewise, Monday is my favorite day of the week. I love Sundays for the refreshing in the Holy Ghost and the presence of God - but it is also so busy as to get bumped from the number one spot. So that leaves Monday, nice quiet, slow paced Monday.

So is it any surprise that anticipation is building for another "new" in our lives. We should be in our new church within about three weeks. To that end, there is all the final work to be done - cleaning.

So we have started spending some time at the new facility. Cleaning, scraping, vacuuming. It is unreal how much dust can accumulate in a space. I mopped one floor four times and it still did not look acceptable by my standards.

On the other hand, as a space is completed and it begins to shine and the furniture is set in place - all of a sudden, this is so very real.

Makes me think about this journey we are on. We have been hearing for years, "Jesus is coming back." And yes, we believe it, but it is easy to relegate it to "someday." But as we see the happenings in our world and we recognize them as fulfillment of prophecies in the Bible - it is becoming very, very real! Time to really kick in and get to work - time to clean (up our act), make sure everything is where it should be in our lives. Is everything working? Is the power on in our lives?

I watched as we polished the outside of things. We scraped the windows, washed the walls - getting everybit of dust removed that we could. The carpet layers were making sure this covering was secure - no visible seams. The tile layers made sure there was a good sealer present on the grout so moisture wouldn't get in and undermine thier work. And we cleaned. Then someone else would be in to fix something, and guess what? We had to clean again.

We need to examine our lives. Check the inside and outside. Polish, clean, seal. Make sure there is no cracks for sin to seep into our souls. Make sure we are spotless. Invariably something will come along and we will have to cleanse again. It is all part of the process.

You see one day soon we will be meeting Him. There will be an inspection and everything must be in order. I want to pass that inspection most of all.

By the way - December 7 is the projected move in date. Check out our website at www.upc1.org