Cosmetic Only

There is a program I love to watch on Saturday Mornings called Sell This House.  I have watched it for a couple of years.  The premise of the show is that they take homes that have been on the market for an extended amount of time and the designer and host evaluate the home then proceed to make changes in the home that will benefit the seller in an effort to sell quicker. 

When the designer and host come in, they make changes that consist of "getting rid" of stuff.  Things that may clutter the home and prevent it from being sold.  After all, what buyer wants to come in and purchase a home that has so much clutter and dust, you can't see the floor?  When they get to cleaning, many times it is discovered that some pieces of furniture had not been moved in years.  It takes deep cleaning to get past the marks that times has left. 

While they do clean the house, they do not make major repairs.  If a closet door is not attractive, they might paint but they won't replace it.  If windows are outdated, they may wash them but they won't update them.  Basically the changes are purely cosmetic.

When we come to Christ, we can not hold on to our old life.  If something needs changing, we need to do some cleaning out.  We can't just wipe it and hope it stays clean, we need to get rid of it.  Then, once it's gone,  we need to make permanent changes.  Merely getting rid of it might make a difference but the change needs to go beyond the surface, it needs to go deep.  Cosmetic changes often change the look but they don't change the heart. 

Why would you go through the trouble of cleaning out your house for show, and not replace what is rotten, broken or stained?  So it is with our hearts.  It does us no good to speak a change and not make the change in our hearts.  It must go deeper than skin deep.  We can't cover our sin up with an occasional visit to church or an occasional obligatory devotion.  We must go deeper. 

Don't settle for cosmetic changes!

Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit.  Why will you die, people of Israel?  For I take no pleasure in the death of anyonw, declares the Sovereign Lord.  Repent and live.  Ezekiel 18: 31-32