The lesson discussed how no matter how many coats of paint you cover a condemned house in, it's still this way on the inside. You can pretty-up the outside as much as you want, that doesn't make the inside less broken and dirty.
It then went on to bring this to the state of our own hearts.
How many of us see our own hearts in this same light? I know personally, I should have a "Condemned" sign stamped right across mine. It's broken, run-down, dirty. It is unlovable. And I definitely don't see it as something that can be lived in. It's been abused and mistreated. It's been beaten down and slapped around. It's led me to sin time and again.
I put on masks all the time, hiding what is truly inside. I pretty up the package to disguise the true brokenness that resides within. I slap those coats of bright colored paint on. But I know my heart still has that "Condemned" sign nailed to it. But the paint isn't enough. There are also fences - tall barbed wire fences - keeping people away. Yep, pretty house... move along. You don't want to go in. You don't want to see what's inside. Continue on your way. Just Stay Away!
But there is One who still is willing to love me, regardless of the unlovable nature of my heart. There is still One who is willing to reside within my unlivable heart. As unworthy as I may be, God still loves me. He is still within me. He is busy at work tidying up and patching up all the brokenness. He stands beside me as I slowly allow more to scale that fence and come inside.
No matter how broken you think your heart is... no matter how abused and beaten down and dirty your heart is... God looks beyond that and loves you anyway. We are beloved children of God.
God bless!
Note: this isn't the end of the story of the condemned house. There is so much more to say, it will be expanded on in the days to come.
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