Our roofing job is finally finished!
It was almost two months ago that the trucks showed up on a foggy October 8th morning to drop off the building materials.
As the building-materials truck was leaving (truck to the left), the delivery of the empty dumpster was showing up (truck to the right).
And … the empty dumpster was masterfully set into place.
Work began on our roof.
The old moss-covered concrete roofing tiles were removed … one by one.
New plywood was installed.
Our property was a mess! For weeks! It was a big job!
Week after week … the porta-potty sat out front.
Week after week … the Honey Bucket truck showed up to service the porta-potty.
“When will this roofing job be finished??” hubby and I wondered.
Sometimes the roofers would show up. Sometimes they wouldn’t. We never knew when they would be coming. Usually, they did their hardest work on the days when it rained the worst!
We were very happy with their work.
They were doing an excellent job!
And they were very nice.
As it neared the end of the project, (they were re-surfacing the top-deck portion) each day darkness would fall … the roofers would drive off … and I would wonder: “Is it finished??”
But alas, no … not quite yet.
The upper top-deck portion was completed.
Are they done??
Is it finished??
But hubby and I had not received a bill for the project yet.
And … the porta-potty remained out front.
Week after week, the Honey Bucket truck kept showing up to service the porta-potty.
Finally … this past Monday hubby and I received the bill for the project! Whoo-Hoo! (though I guess most people might not be so excited to receive a bill. Haha!) Payment can be made in full! This project can finally be done! The porta-potty can finally be taken away!
The day before Thanksgiving hubby drove down to the office of the roofing company and personally dropped off the check in payment for the project. It was a hefty amount. We didn’t quite feel comfortable putting that check in the mail.
Payment has now been made in full!
The roofing job is finished!
And check it out … look’s like there’s a spot on the back of that truck for the porta-potty to be taken away! Whoo-Hoo!
It is finished!
The old crumbling concrete tiles have been taken away! All the trash and garbage have been taken away! The porta-potty has been taken away!
The mess has been cleaned up! The work has been completed!
And a brand-new roof has been installed!
This is just like what Jesus Christ has done for all of humanity!
All of humanity is a mess of brokenness – just like the old moss-covered concrete roofing tiles.
* The moss was impossible to clean off!
* Crumbling tiles had fallen off, breaking & cracking more tiles below; and leaving parts of our roof open and exposed to rain and forest creatures!
In the same way, all of humanity is a mess of brokenness and sin! Sin is impossible to clean off! No matter how hard we try to get rid of our sin (all those things we do wrong; our faults, our flaws, our failures; our mistakes; etc. …) we just can’t get the sin off! We just can’t get our lives “clean.” No matter how much effort we put toward it. No matter how hard we try.
Furthermore, the sin in our life is like the crumbling tiles which fell off and damaged more tiles below. The wrong things we do cascade down to cause harm and pain in the lives of others around us. Whether intentional or accidental, we all do sinful things which hurt and impact others.
And not only that … the sin in our life leaves gaps and cracks in our life where “rain” from life’s storms can get in and ruin our life. And “forest critters” can get in and make nests and homes in places of our life, where they should not be. This would be addictions and sins which move in and “take up residence” in our life, where they should not be!
We need a “life replacement” – just like hubby and I had a roof replacement.
We need the sin to be removed … and taken away! Just like our old, mossy, crumbling concrete-roof-tiles were removed … and taken away!
We need Jesus to give us a brand-new start-over in life. Just like hubby and I now have a brand-new roof.
Jesus can do this for us! Jesus can totally do this for us!
Just like the roofers labored hard to do the roof-replacement project, so also Jesus Christ has worked hard and has done all the work to remove our sin and give us a brand-new “life-replacement.”
Jesus left Heaven and came to Earth … Jesus lived the perfect, sinless life we should have lived … Jesus died the death on the cross that we should have died. Jesus took the penalty for our sin! Jesus paid the price that we should have paid!
It was a hefty payment! It cost a lot!
Jesus gave his very life to pay the payment for our sin! That is mind-blowing!!
Payment has been made!
Payment has been received!
It is finished!
The old sinful, broken, crumbling person we used to be, has been taken away! Just like the old mossy crumbling concrete roofing tiles were taken away. Everything bad we have done (aka: all the trash and garbage in our life) has been taken away! We have been forgiven! We are made clean!
And the new has come! We are made new and clean because of Jesus’s work for us!
“And he [Jesus] died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised to life again. … Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself!” – 2 Corinthians 5:15, 17
Gratitude … that it is finished!
Our roofing job is finished!
And our soul’s salvation is likewise finished!
