I must say I love muscle cars, don't you? The sound of the engine roaring. The sleek body of the car. The tires and wheels that make such a statement. The glimmer of the paint job. You can find some with metallic paint catching your eye as they pass,or any color that adds to who you are . You can add cam, and you can put on headers. You can add detailing in the leather seats, you can add in a gear shift with personality. You might find sleek lines going down the sides, or flames shouting at you. You can even make your car faster by adding in a different engine. Who doesn't love the sound of a roaring engine showing power?With all these details they add much to the look of the car don't they? As people pass you wave. As your driving by others may be giving you a thumb's up letting you know they like your style.
The more details added the more time in maintenance you spend. There is a lot going on to make that ride appealing.
So, all these details add a lot to the look of your car, but if each one is taken off, what are you left with? A car. It's not all those details that make that car run great. It's the engine, its the inside that people don't often see. It's all the stuff under the hood. Without the inside working you just have a hot looking car sitting in your drive way.
We can get caught up in the details in our lives too. We can work for hours putting on our make up to look just right. We can shop for days looking for that right outfit to add to our entrance into the room. We can do the nails, the toes, and spend lots on the details that make us feel and look good. But, you can do that to a manikin in the store front window that calls you inside to purchase more. Ever see how they make those manikins fancy with the latest styles? We can stand next to them and think we are missing something, when in fact we are. If we are all caught up on the details of the outside and our look we are missing the importance of the inside.
Anything can be fixed up. I have a cousin who loves to restore old furniture and things. She goes out and finds these great buys, brings them home and restores them to look amazing. She doesn't just keep adding to the outside, she strips all that away and starts fresh. It is a lot of work restoring, but in that work is where you find the real beauty.
We have known friends to have a home and want to restore. So, here they are thinking they will begin with tearing up the carpet. Once they get that old, dirty, mismatched carpet up what do they find? A beautiful hardwood floor that would have never been found unless the old was brought up and thrown out.
Every once in awhile we can get ourselves caught up in the details, but its not the details that often bring the beauty. It is the simplicity of things. I am one of those girls who loves simple. For me, the more details just takes away from who I really am.
Many times we try to add details in fact to hide what is really on the inside. Today is a beautiful day to refurbish our lives. To take a good look from the front, the behind and the sides, starting with the heart. If you really want to shine for Jesus, take off all the world and replace it with pure thoughts, pure motives, and pure and simple prayer. We don't need to listen to the world and all its idea's about beauty. If we could just see ourselves the way Jesus sees us, we would stop trying to cover up what He so much wants the world to see in us, and that is Himself. He cannot shine through with all those details we are so worried about.
If you watch many designers of the home, what is it they say? They say," Remove the clutter, get ride of all the stuff you don't need!" When we do the real beauty begins to shine through.
The more stuff, the more our eyes are on the details, the less stuff, the more our eyes are on Him.
2 Corinthians 4:16 "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day."
1 Samuel 16:7 "But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
