The Old Made New

I have recently finished a book which I thoroughly enjoyed. Roots of Home: Our Journey to a New Old House by Russell Versaci traces Old World roots of housing in America. The author covers architectural design from our Spanish, French, English and Continental heritages. It was very enlightening to discover how Americans have kept some of the old traditional designs while sometimes incorporating modern conveniences. Many times, owners have attempted to preserve the good features of the home while attempting to improve on them.

Most of the homes featured in this book were very simple designs. The builders were inspired by what they had left behind in the old country, but were practical enough to use what was available locally. If they lived in an area that had lots of rock, they used rock. If trees were abundant, the homes were made of wood. Much of the insulation of the first days of our country was mud mixed with straw.

The houses built in America's beginnings were not only built out of necessity, but some became enduring classics. The author reviews the houses that were first built in this country as well as some new old houses that are being designed by modern traditional architects. He says, "Along the way, we will discover what gives a house good bones. We will uncover footprints of the past that provide blueprints for new old houses that are pleasing to the eye and satisfying to the soul - classic American houses that look and feel like home."

It occurs to me that God deals with us in a similar fashion. He made us the way we are. We have good bones, but sin corrupts our dwelling. When a person trusts in Christ as Savior and Lord, he does not lose his personality or the talents he was born with. He gains much more - something new. The new old house of a believer allows God's Spirit to work in Him and through Him to become what is pleasing to God and satisfying to the believer. Through Jesus, God restores what was good about His creation in the beginning and makes it new - a new old house.

For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven...therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come (2 Corinthians 5:1-2, 17).