Makeovers

I had the Today show on yesterday. I don't watch the show but I had turned on the t.v. to get weather updates during our tornado watch. Anyway, I happened to hear that they were going to take 2 audience members and give them a makeover. I didn't watch it but it got me thinking about makeovers.

People seem to love makeovers. I've seen enough to be able to picture the audience members all trying to get noticed for the sake of being chosen for a makeover. And they always treat the victim, I mean, volunteer, so sweetly. They shower them with compliments. Telling them how they have a really pretty face or a great smile, any number of things. What they really mean is "you have a feature or two that are actually nice but the rest of you is a mess so we're going to fix you." Why would they have chosen them for a makeover if they didn't see anything that needed to be made over?

Now I know that not everyone loves makeovers. I think there are plenty of people, myself included, who recognize the truth that despite all the kind words and gooey compliments, someone has looked you over and sees you as a "before" picture. No thank you, I'm not interested. I may very well be a "before" picture but let's not make a public statement about it.

But what about a real makeover? The kind that matters. The "you" that matters. Not a change in what we look like on the outside, but of who we are on the inside. God is the only one who can bring about such a makeover. Our best attempts without Him leave us looking good on the outside and being a fraud on the inside. Not the ideal "after" picture.

So, would audience members volunteer as quickly for a makeover of their heart, compliments of their Creator, as they would for a beauty makeover? Would people be jumping up and down and saying "God, here I am, find all my flaws so I can be new?" I'm guessing not as many.

So why is that? Oh, yeah, our sinful nature.

We would rather live a life of trying to hide our flaws, than to confess them and let God bring them into the light to free us from them. (I say "flaws" but of course we're talking about sin here, and sin is sin no matter what you call it.)

I have made the decision to stop peacefully existing with my sinful nature. We are now at war. I will battle it til my body lies in a grave, but battle I will. To confess my sin is to allow a "before" picture to be taken. To repent is to allow Jesus to create an "after" picture, because we just don't have a fighting chance unless we have the Spirit.

Psalm 139:23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
(my life verse)

At some point, you may feel a nudge to just take a peek in the mirror and look for flaws. If you are ready to check for "flaws" you'll need to know what a "flaw" is. As I said, it is sin. Let me direct you to Exodus 20:1-17, there you will find God's law. If you've broken any of them, you've sinned. I don't know if you'll ever let God make you over, but there's where to start if you're willing.