“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." — Luke 6:38
I’m not much of a TV watcher, but I do like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. For those of you not familiar with the show, people contact the network explaining why they need their home remodeled — often there’s an illness or some other tragedy or disaster that requires a change in the person’s living environment. The network gets 1,000 applications a day and, of course, can choose no more than one family per week.
In one episode, an eight-year-old cancer survivor, Kassandra, sent a tape to the network explaining that she didn’t want her home remodeled. She only wanted help going back to the children’s cancer ward to brighten it up and make it a happier place for the children who were there.
The network sent Kassandra and her family to the hospital with a team of Disney animators to create beautiful murals on the walls in every room of that children’s ward. They remodeled the play room and made it beautiful for those who were suffering.
What Kassandra and her family did not know was this: While they were busy painting rooms and encouraging patients, over 300 people were busy with their home. They tore it down and built a beautiful mansion in its place. Kassandra, her mom and dad, and her five brothers and sisters came home to the surprise of their lives.
Well, I cried. This is so much like God. While we are busy losing ourselves caring for others, God is building a mansion. Some day the door of that limo will open, the crowd will cheer, the bus will move, and we will experience far more than we could ever ask or imagine.
Be encouraged!
Dwight
Dwight Clough is the author of four Christian books and is an active member of Lake City Church in Madison. This devotional is also available via email and you may review the archives back to 2002. To contact Dwight or Kim, use their contact form. You may also support their ministry.