We recently painted our house. Now we’re finishing up making and painting some decorative awnings over the front windows. We’re liking the new color. I think we will also love the awnings when they’re finished and installed. They will contrast the paint color and, as they say, make the new facelift on the house “pop”.
Our previous paint color on the house faded quickly in the Florida sun. For us, it’s been an eyesore for a long time. The new paint freshens up the house and makes it look new and clean. It makes us feel better and we hope that when others come to our place, they will find the outward appearance attractive and inviting.
What’s interesting is that painting the outside of the house didn’t change the inside of the house whatsoever. And it seems to me that what happens on the inside is much more important than how things look on the outside. Sometimes an outward appearance can indicate things are good on the inside, but not always.
The outside was a house that needed painting. Now the outside is a house with a fresh paint job. It’s still just cement block and mortar covered with stucco. But inside the house is a home.
Home is where we gather. It’s where we live. We talk. We eat. We laugh. We agree (most of the time). We eat some more. We sleep. We pray. We eat some more. We celebrate birthdays. And at those birthday celebrations, guess what - we eat. Some of that happens in the backyard. Even though we’re outside the actual structure, the backyard is still “home”.
A house provides shelter from the elements. But it’s the love on the inside that makes it a home. There are a lot of nice looking houses, that unfortunately might only be just that - nice looking houses.
I’ve had the privilege of visiting Guatemala several times because of our church connections there. Something that stands out to me is their cemeteries. The tombstones are painted in vibrant colors. They are very much different than here in America, where the tombstones are mostly made of granite and, are the blah color of granite. For me, those Guatemalan cemeteries, where the dead are buried, bring some words of Jesus to life.
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:27-28)
I seldom wear a suit and necktie. However, I do wear a one on certain, special occasions. Whenever I show up in a suit, someone will inevitably say, “Wow! You clean up real nice.” I suppose when I'm dressing more formally my outward appearance can be compared to a new paint job on a house. If I wore fake eyelashes, one could even compare those to the new awnings over our windows.
We all know that a suit doesn’t make the man. It might make the person wearing the suit feel good about himself for a short time. It might be pleasing in the eyes of some of the beholders. However, the suit cannot change what’s on the inside.
When the Prophet, Samuel, was sent by the Lord to anoint a new king he had his eye on the oldest son of Jesse. Eliab was tall, dark, and handsome. He was a man’s man. Samuel was very impressed with him and thought surely this is the guy God wants as the new king. But God put the brakes on Samuel’s choice and reminded him that people look at outward appearances, but He (God) looks at the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)
I was thinking when people look at my outward appearance they might see an old house that needs some new paint. And that's okay. Because what's most important is that when God looks at my heart, He sees a home. A place where He is welcome. A place where we can meet and talk and agree and laugh and dine and do life together.
My prayer is simple: Lord, come in and keep making my heart more welcoming to you each and every day.
Photo Credit: Josias Gonzalez 2022
