Do-It-Yourself

 

Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:28-30 ESV).

 

I like to say that I am a “Jack of all trades and master of none.” It’s another way of saying I like do-it-yourself projects. Several years ago, while Mary and I were visiting in DC, I saw several birdhouses for sale in a high-end pet store. Some were priced in the hundreds of dollars! One was of particular interest to me as I thought, “I can build that out of scraps; and, it wouldn’t cost me anything.” The picture of the final product that I built is shown here. It is a multi-unit construction (LOL)! The DIY craze seems to have taken our culture by storm. We can go to YouTube and find expert tips and detailed demos on just about any project we would like to do. Occasionally I’ll view some of these if I’m not quite sure how I can do something. Though I have been gifted with lots of time and experience through the years making most projects an easy accomplishment. That’s not always a good thing!

The DIY attitude comes quite naturally to us. It shows itself from our toddler days, when we insisted on walking ourselves, feeding ourselves, dressing ourselves, pushing away the more competent hands of our mothers and fathers. But that gets pretty tiring in this life. Don't you get exhausted struggling to pay your bills, dealing with your aches and pains, fighting the daily temptations, juggling your hectic schedule, trying to stay fit and healthy, and searching for a little bit of rest here and there? And how often do we falter and fail? Wouldn't it be nice to set those burdens aside from time to time and sit down and rest while someone else handles them?

God never designed our lives to be a great list of DIY projects. He created us to be in relationship with Him. And even if we were able to accomplish a majority of these projects, He knows that kind of living will leave us worn out, bitter, disappointed and disillusioned because all our projects are short-lived. They will always fail to bring lasting peace, joy, contentment and hope. We are not as self-sufficient as we might like to think. That is why Jesus invites us, "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). On the Mountain of Transfiguration, Peter, James and John got to experience a brief taste of the eternal rest that awaits each of us in heaven. They looked in awe and wonder upon Jesus' dazzling body which no longer concealed His divine majesty. They listened to His discussion with Moses and Elijah as they spoke about the great project only He could complete. No wonder Peter wanted to stay there. No longer are we do-it-yourself people, we are do-it-together-with-the-Lord-at-our-side people today and forever. That’s the victory of Easter!