Daily Devotional

Antique auctions were great fun for me. I would bid on antique treasures, restore them and sell them, often 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 in past centuries to store dishes and table linens. This type of furniture was especially popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries. 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 certainly be a challenge to restore!

The day came when my new acquisition was standing upright 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. 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 and how much great care was taken crafting it. At that point, the Holy Spirit captured my attention and reminded me of two passages of Scripture I knew from memory and experience:
2 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.”

1 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 had restored me for His purpose. I now live my life in relationship with God—how He intended me to live. I could never 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 still in the process of restoration. The solution that stripped the black finish had caused tiny hair-like fibers of the wood to stick out. Taking 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.

Next, came 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 drank up the oil and was now 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—not just because it is a beautiful piece of furniture—but because it reminds me of the time the Holy Spirit captured my attention to teach me about my much-needed restoration.