The City of Pikeville is in the midst of a major urban renewal project. Last winter I watched as heavy equipment tore into a row of dilapidated houses on a hill above the main part of town. One of them contained an apartment where I lived when I first came to town twenty-two years before. Another area targeted for demolition and renovation includes a house where my family and I lived for ten years. I really don't regret seeing the buildings go, though I know there are several hundred people in the renewal area who will have to find other homes. The city plans to replace the demolished buildings with townhouses and landscaped open areas.

That's one kind of renovation the city is pursuing. The other involves restoring and repairing existing buildings, from the old railroad station to the Pikeville Academy building to the storefronts on Main Street. Though the tactic is different, the goal is the same: to replace something old and damaged with something new and attractive. In yet another twist, the city fathers, with a big assist from the Governor, a native son, is tearing down some of those same renovated buildings to make room for parking garage entrances for a grand new civic center.

Just as human beings repair or replace damaged or outdated buildings, God restores and rebuilds relationships. When we become Christians, he tears down old eyesores and replaces them with brand new buildings. To use Paul's language, "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) Unfortunately, we persist in holding on to parts of the old building – an attic here, a locked room there. Inevitably, that causes problems, as old building material weakens the new structure. It's kind of like patching the potholes in a road, without resurfacing; the first places to go bad again are the places that were patched, because the surrounding material is still bad. God sees the completed structure, but we still have to live in a building under construction.

Even new buildings can suffer wear and tear, and the most solidly built needs repair work after a while. When we, as Christians, fall out of fellowship with other Christians and with the Lord, that damages the structure of our lives. When we cease to pray and feed on the Word, we cut ourselves off from our Power Source, the Holy Spirit. Without power, nothing works as it should, and we live our lives in darkness, cut off from the light. When we cut ourselves from Christian fellowship, whether from a few or many, we ruin the neighborhood. It's like suddenly having no police or fire protection, no garbage pickup, and no phone service. We cut off ourselves from those we need most, and open ourselves to attacks from every side.

Peter fell out of fellowship with Christ because he denied him, out of fear for his life. Christ restored him to fellowship and service, but only after Peter went to him, and turned away from the safety and comfort of his old life as a fisherman. The prodigal son's father welcomed his wayward child back with open arms, but only after the son had made the decision to leave his miserable existence and return home. God will always meet us more than half way if we turn back toward him. He may well allow our lives to become totally miserable so that we will recognize our need for him and turn back. One thing he will never do, however, is force us to turn back to him against our will.

If we pursue own goals and desires in life, in rebellion against God, we will know it, at least for a while. If we persist in what we want to do, without confession or repentance, we eventually build up a wall around ourselves that's very hard to penetrate. Sometimes it takes an extreme crisis, or even a series of crises, to persuade Christians to return to a right relationship with God. Many never do, and lose whatever reward God intended for them. As long as our hearts are tender, though, and we recognize we have strayed away, it doesn't take some elaborate penance for God to take us back. All it takes is confession, and sincere repentance, or a turning back toward the Lord. However many times we fall down, he'll pick us up again; however many times we fail, and disappoint him, he'll forgive us if we only ask.

Just as God restores us to fellowship with him, so we must be willing to restore Christians to the fellowship of the church when they stray. Not everyone caught in sin, and not everyone who deserts the fellowship of believers, wants to return, or accepts offers of forgiveness. For those who want to return to the body, though, we can do no less than the Lord would do, If the Lord forgives someone caught in adultery, or someone who causes division in the church, we should, too. Paul advised the Corinthian church to restore to the fellowship the man caught in adultery with his father's wife. Otherwise, he said, Satan would step in and cause any more problems for the man. Just as the Lord restored Peter after his denial, and just as the father restored the prodigal son after he squandered his inheritance, so must we forgive and restore our own brethren who fall away.

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JESUS IS the Bridge Ministries

Beneath His Wings Devotionals - Vol. 2