Daily Devotional

Antique auctions were great fun for me!  I would bid on antique treasures, restore them and sell them making a good profit.  I remember the day I first saw the piece of furniture that now lives in my home. It’s a Sideboard. It looks like a long dresser with a mirror, but it is used to store dishes, and table linens. This type of furniture was especially popular in the 1800 and 1900’s.  Inspecting the Sideboard’s soft, grimy, black finish, I could see it was composed of decades of dust entombed in black stain and furniture oil!  This would be a challenge to restore!

The day came, my new acquisition stood on a tarp in the back yard. I donned my rubber gloves and mask and dipped into the solution that would melt off the finish from the Sideboard.  As I rubbed off the black, gooey finish, it ran in rivers down to the ground.  Finally, came the moment of revelation! I was astonished by the beauty of the wood!
I could see the artistic choice of woods and how such great care was taken in how it was crafted. The Holy Spirit at that point captured my attention.  

II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature, the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

The Sideboard became my Holy Spirit directed object lesson.  The grimy, black finish represented my sin.  The cleaning solution that removed the black goo represented God’s cleansing of my life. The beauty of the revealed wood of the Sideboard, reminded me that God has restored me for His purpose! I now live my life in relationship with God—how He intended me to live.  I never could have imagined that restoring a piece of furniture would result in a precious time of worship of our great God!
 
I remember viewing my Sideboard. I was not done yet.  The solution that stripped the black finish had caused tiny hair-like fibers of the wood to stick out.  Taking very, very fine sandpaper, I began to gently sand off the fibers.  Once again, my object lesson taught me.  Isn’t this what God does to me every day! He is rubbing off the rough edges of my life so I can be more like Him!  God uses trials and challenges to sand away my rough edges.

Next, my favorite part!  The oil! Applying good furniture oil to the entire surface of the Sideboard nourishes, protects and illuminates the wood grain! The thirsty Sideboard drinks up the oil and is fully restored.  The Holy Spirit is the oil in my life. He nourishes, protects and teaches me to shine for Him!

For many years now, I have appreciated my Sideboard—and not just because it is a beautiful piece of furniture—but this Sideboard reminds me of the time the Holy Spirit captured my attention to teach me about true restoration!

PARENTS:

• Prepare a mud puddle and watch your kids get REALLY, REALLY dirty!  Then after you clean them off—talk about how God cleans us up and restores us to a relationship with him. 
• I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
• When you are bathing your little kids, talk about or sing about Jesus washing all their sins away. Or when you wash off the dishes, or wash the clothes, etc.