A suspenseful home improvement show follows a young couple who did all their homework, had all the reports, and bought a lovely, renovated 125-year-old two-story home.
Then, things started going wrong. Mold. Poke a finger through the damp drywall and it came out black. Lots of mold. When tested, the home was not safe because of the amount of mold in the air. They began tearing out the drywall and just kept tearing. It was terrible. When searching for the source, they found a drainpipe that did not move the water away from the foundation, but actually right into the foundation. As a result of years of water damage, the main wooden beam had rotted through, the water had seeped into the foundation and soaked the drywall, disintegrated the electrical wires, and created mold damage as well as fire hazards. If it had not been discovered, engineers commented that the basement wall would have caved in, the house would have shifted, and may not have been repairable.
The fascinating part was that the house looked really nice (before they started tearing things up.) Lovely paint on the wall. Built in bookshelves. Modern furniture. No one would have known that things weren’t as great as they seemed.
Examining the foundation of the house they found rotten timbers. Examining the roof, they found that the chimneys had been installed improperly. Insulation was too close to the pipe and had scorch marks. Many of the renovations done to the house were not up to code (which is put in place to protect people and their property). Upon examination it should have failed the test. The home inspector hired by this couple did not do his job properly and he put them at risk.
Over and over as I watched the show, I was reminded that as a believer I must examine my life. God has given me His Word to use as the standard. I must examine the foundation of my life. Is it biblically sound? Or is it based on human thought, or worse human emotions? No matter what new book is written, what blog is published, what great preachers preach, what video is available — the foundation of my faith must be God’s Word. It is my responsibility to inspect, to examine my faith, to do my job and find the trouble spots. To find where something might get in to compromise the foundation. To test what I hear and read through the Truth of God’s Word.
Too often the outside of my life looks just fine. I read my Bible. I pray. I work for a mission! But the outside is not what needs to be examined. It is so easy to allow the culture to shift my thinking away from God’s glory. To limit God’s power in my life. To convince myself that this is OK. Or that isn’t really a sin. The inspections must begin today, and every day, so that I never find rotten doctrine, moldy worship, or disintegrating values.
Interesting, too, was that the trouble with the drainpipe and the water also affected the neighbor’s foundation. It, too, had to have a rotten beam replaced. Her home also required major structural work. What we believe affects others. And so, I encourage you to inspect your foundation and look for the areas where work needs to be done.
I Thessalonians 5:21-22 says, “But test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”
