Morning Devotional

August 1, 2003

“Getting Better, Not Older”  

by Don Emmitte

Home

See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are! But the people who belong to this world don't know God, so they don't understand that we are his children. Yes, dear friends, we are already God's children, and we can't even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who believe this will keep themselves pure, just as Christ is pure. (1 John 3:1-3 NLV).

Birthdays always put me into a nostalgic mood. Tomorrow (August 2^nd) marks my 54^th birthday (if I would have known I was going to live this long, I might have taken better care of myself)! As I was reading some stories on a site looking for a cute ecard to send Mary, I found the following story. The author is unnamed.  

A stranger came by the other day with an offer that set me to thinking. He wanted to buy the old barn that sits out by the highway. I told him right off that he was crazy. He was a city type. You could tell by his clothes, his car, his hands, and the way that he talked. He said he was driving by and saw that beautiful barn sitting out in the tall grass and wanted to know if it was for sale. I told him he had a funny idea of beauty. Sure, it was a handsome building in its day. But then, there's been a lot of winters pass with their snow and ice and howling wind. The summer sun's beat down on that ole' barn till all the paint's gone, and the wood has turned silver gray. Now the old building leans a good deal, looking kind of tired. Yet, that fellow called it beautiful. That set me to thinking. I walked out to the field and just stood there, gazing at that old barn. The stranger said he planned to use the lumber to line the walls of his den in a new country home he's building down the road. He said you couldn't get paint that beautiful. Only years of standing in the weather, bearing the storms and scorching sun...only that can produce beautiful barn wood. 

I began to think that we're a lot like that in our lives. Only it's on the inside that the beauty grows with us. Sure, we turn silver gray and lean a bit more than we did when we were younger. But the Lord knows what He's doing. And as the years pass He's busy using the difficulties and trials of our lives, the dry seasons and the stormy seasons, to do a job of beautifying our souls that nothing else can produce. And to think how often folks complain because they want life easy!

The story goes on to say that the wealthy man came and took the old barn down and used the weathered wood to build his beautiful new home. And, you know someday the Lord will come and take my old barn down. He’ll take that old weathered wood and used to make an incredibly beautiful new home. I have no idea what it will look like. I’m sure it will be nothing like it looks now. However, I know it will be the most beautiful work He can create. As John said in today’s reading, I’ll be like Him! That thought makes all the stormy weather worth it for me. I hope it does for you as well!