Home Connection | White
I've painted a lot of walls.
But as I worked on a Phase 1 update to our new home's main floor bath, I realized something. In the course of our home-ownership tenure, I have painted seemingly miles and miles of trim with four coats of semi-gloss white, but until the other day, I'd never painted a wall white!
I'm typically a color girl. And as I plan the list of renovations for our new abode, nowhere will you find the words, "keep the walls white." So why, in the name of all things colorful, did I make this decision?
1. I had two half-used gallons of eggshell white on hand. I knew this would be a temporary fix, as we plan to do a major overhaul in the future. When I went to the shop to look through my leftover paint, I didn't know what I would find. White was a viable option when compared to other colors I had once used and discarded.
2. I was itching to paint. It's not every day that my adrenal fatigue gives me a break, so when it does, I try to go with it. Energy combined with stencil-disdain fueled my decision to #workwithwhatyougot.
3. Have I mentioned this project was free? Using the white I already had saved me some bucks. And if you've ever renovated/updated a house from top to bottom you know how costs add up! (seriously, nothing will go untouched in this place, except maybe this lizard/salamander hook 😊):
So I started painting. With white.
As coat one dried, the stencils reappeared. Expected. As coat two dried and a faint trace of stencil again showed through, it got me thinking...and my thinking led me right into the DEEP...
Even though I love color, I'm not immune to the value of white. White space in graphic design is extremely beneficial. It gives the beholder a chance to breathe. And in the case of my 80s-90s stencils, white gave me a chance to minimize some chaos. It gave me a clean starting place.
And, Jesus...He does the same. In his blood, He washes us white. In his death, we start afresh. We are given new life and a clean starting place. Unlike my walls, which needed three coats to cover the stencil, Jesus need only die once to say, "It is finished."
Currently I am reading through the Gospel of John, and Jesus' words from John 6 continue to stick with me. Jesus had just fed the multitudes. He had just shown 5,000+ people a spectacular miracle of an abundant gift...and yet the crowd was not satisfied.
Here's a snippet:
..."They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, 'Rabbi, when did you get here?' Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don't be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.
"They replied, 'We want to perform God's works, too. What should we do?'
"Jesus told them, 'This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.'"
Jesus' response was profound. How often do we want only perishable things from Jesus? How often do we ask, "What should we do?" But Jesus doesn't give a list. He doesn't pick up an extra paintbrush and tell the people to start painting. He simply says, the ONLY WORK God wants is a belief in the one he sent.
Without that fundamental belief in the Lord, we can never cover our stains. We might be able to grab a can of white paint from the shop or store, but just like the stubborn stencil in my bathroom, left to our own devices, our sin will just keep resurfacing. We can't enter into His rest if we're always striving to look good.
So today, let's pause to consider the white. The clean. The Way. The Truth. The Life. Let's stop and ponder that the only work God wants from His children is to believe in Christ...to seek eternal life. Anything we try to add to His already completed work just serves to add more stencils!
But as I worked on a Phase 1 update to our new home's main floor bath, I realized something. In the course of our home-ownership tenure, I have painted seemingly miles and miles of trim with four coats of semi-gloss white, but until the other day, I'd never painted a wall white!
I'm typically a color girl. And as I plan the list of renovations for our new abode, nowhere will you find the words, "keep the walls white." So why, in the name of all things colorful, did I make this decision?
1. I had two half-used gallons of eggshell white on hand. I knew this would be a temporary fix, as we plan to do a major overhaul in the future. When I went to the shop to look through my leftover paint, I didn't know what I would find. White was a viable option when compared to other colors I had once used and discarded.
2. I was itching to paint. It's not every day that my adrenal fatigue gives me a break, so when it does, I try to go with it. Energy combined with stencil-disdain fueled my decision to #workwithwhatyougot.
3. Have I mentioned this project was free? Using the white I already had saved me some bucks. And if you've ever renovated/updated a house from top to bottom you know how costs add up! (seriously, nothing will go untouched in this place, except maybe this lizard/salamander hook 😊):
So I started painting. With white.
As coat one dried, the stencils reappeared. Expected. As coat two dried and a faint trace of stencil again showed through, it got me thinking...and my thinking led me right into the DEEP...
Even though I love color, I'm not immune to the value of white. White space in graphic design is extremely beneficial. It gives the beholder a chance to breathe. And in the case of my 80s-90s stencils, white gave me a chance to minimize some chaos. It gave me a clean starting place.
And, Jesus...He does the same. In his blood, He washes us white. In his death, we start afresh. We are given new life and a clean starting place. Unlike my walls, which needed three coats to cover the stencil, Jesus need only die once to say, "It is finished."
Currently I am reading through the Gospel of John, and Jesus' words from John 6 continue to stick with me. Jesus had just fed the multitudes. He had just shown 5,000+ people a spectacular miracle of an abundant gift...and yet the crowd was not satisfied.
Here's a snippet:
..."They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, 'Rabbi, when did you get here?' Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don't be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.
"They replied, 'We want to perform God's works, too. What should we do?'
"Jesus told them, 'This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.'"
Jesus' response was profound. How often do we want only perishable things from Jesus? How often do we ask, "What should we do?" But Jesus doesn't give a list. He doesn't pick up an extra paintbrush and tell the people to start painting. He simply says, the ONLY WORK God wants is a belief in the one he sent.
Without that fundamental belief in the Lord, we can never cover our stains. We might be able to grab a can of white paint from the shop or store, but just like the stubborn stencil in my bathroom, left to our own devices, our sin will just keep resurfacing. We can't enter into His rest if we're always striving to look good.
So today, let's pause to consider the white. The clean. The Way. The Truth. The Life. Let's stop and ponder that the only work God wants from His children is to believe in Christ...to seek eternal life. Anything we try to add to His already completed work just serves to add more stencils!
Wonderful analogy! Amen!
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