For anyone that lives west of Philadelphia and commutes on US 202, they know that the road has been under construction for what seems like forever and no end seems to be reasonably close.  While this road work can be extremely inconvenient and flat out annoying it definitely helped me to realize something recently.  We are always under construction as Christians. 

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”- Philippians 1:6(KJV)

                In Philippians 1:6, God speaks through Paul saying that the good work started in you will be carried out until completion by the Lord…but how come when the work is going on we forget that it will be completed?  The first part of this verse is extremely important, “being confident of this very thing”.  What is “this very thing”?  The work that is going on in our hearts, and the knowledge of who is doing that work and why!  Confidence that no matter what we are going through, God is using it to construct a person who is better able to love, serve, and honor him gives us the motivation to seek and thank the Lord no matter what, and to get through both the good and bad times in a way honoring to him.

                Observing the construction process on 202 has taught me a little bit about construction…It is a very slow process, experiencing many set-backs along the way.  It isn’t pleasant.  Driving to work this summer, there was a week where a new lane was being paved…that entire week, all I smelled on the way to work was the rich, poignant stench of fresh tar being laid down.  As the aroma of distilled organic chemicals filled my nostrils, my car was shaken up and down by the incomplete road.  Eventually however, a new lane opened up and even though the complete project on the road is not complete yet, driving on that freshly paved road was a pretty spectacular feeling.  This can be related to another verse…

“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (KJV)

                Day by day, we are “renewed”.  Renewed in this sense means to be completely made new.  In the Greek the word is anakainoō.  God promises to makes us a new creation in him through Jesus Christ.  So after we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, the renewal process isn’t completed…it is just beginning!  Those bad days when we wonder why we are even here, and those awesome days when you are happier than you could explain; they all are days where GOD puts work in and continues constructing his new creation.  The pains and noise created by the work done on our hearts isn’t always pleasant, but we can be assured that it will lead to a beautiful final product, the product that only our creator has the design plans to.