"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men"
Colossians 3:23 NKJV
Decorating can be a chore or a blessing. It is all about how you approach it. Take for instance, painting walls and ceilings. This can be a messy job so, we have to get it right. Whether you decide to paint the walls and ceiling with a brush depends on, how big the room is. Trying to paint a massive room with a small brush can be a task, to say the least. Therefore a paint roller is the answer.
In my opinion, there are four different things to watch out for:
Make sure the paint goes on evenly
If the paint isn't applied properly, there will be rough edges. The colour of the paint your are going over will begin to show through. Cracks need to be filled in, as do small holes that have been used for a plug. If this is doesn't take place, the cracks or holes will show through afterwards. An analogy can be formed here. If we try to hide the things that God doesn't want in our lives, pretty soon they will begin to show through. Things that let you down need to be dealt with.
Get paint of the door frame/window panes
It is so easy to get carried away with the painting that we cross over from wall/ceiling, to doorframe or window. I think the professional term is cutting in. This has to be carried out with precision, otherwise, the paint goes everywhere and it looks awful. As Christians, we can so easily become distracted from what we are doing. We try to live up to our calling but allow our minds to wander into other things, such as, the person who wound you up recently, the worries you may have at the time, lustful thoughts etc. It is so easy to become distracted by everyday life, so discipline is required to keep on the right road.
Drips on the floor
One of the downfalls of the amateur decorator is the mess that we can make. Too much paint on the brush or roller, and it becomes a recipe for dripping paint over yourself, your clothes or the floor. If you have been crafty and place a sheet on the floor, you can still get paint on the soles of your shoes, carrying it everywhere you walk. In our Christian walk, we can so easily cause a mess of our testimony. Whether it is a driver who has been tail-gating you, someone who has pushed in the queue before you or a dispute with someone. If we don't handle this right, we can make a complete mess of things, completely putting a stain on what we live for.
Cleaning up
This may be the part that anyone who has completed a heavy dose of decorating may hate. Brushes and rollers need cleaning. You need cleaning and the floor, sheets and whatever else meeds cleaning too. Basically it is clean up time and it can be laborious. The analogy for this is our lives, our walk with Jesus. We need to be honest with ourselves, there are things that we need to clean up in our lives. We are not perfect and we all have our faults. However, we can't just ignore them. They need to be purged from our existence. Sometimes, this means asking for someone you trust, to pray for you. Alternatively, laying it all before Jesus may be the answer. But we must mean business with Him when we do this. He will help if you are willing to give up the part of your life that is dragging you down. If you are not willing, this will remain. To be clean, we must mean business.
When this is sorted, you can begin to do your work heartily for the Lord.
Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard
