“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

At the point in our lives when God drew us to himself, we invited him in, committed our lives to Christ, and began an incredible journey with him as our Savior. He invaded our lives with his Holy Spirit and handed us a brand new address, a new standing where we could thrive and pursue his purposes for each of us. Ignorantly, we accepted the address, supposing he meant for us to move into the tiny cottage we first saw by the gate. Somehow we were oblivious to the grand mansion packed with truth he had designed for us to dwell in that was awaiting us further down the way.

To be sure, the cramped cottage is convenient and secure. We linger at length by the warmth that comes from knowing we are saved, forgiven, reconciled with God, and assured of a perfect eternity beyond. Happy thought indeed! But God has far more for us, deep truths he wants us to experience, rooms laden with life-changing, transformational thinking, experiences with him that exceeds our highest expectations. Content to go no further, we stay huddled by our simple fire while God waits for us to know the joys of each one of the rooms furnished with his perfect provisions.

The cottage reveals to us that Christ paid for our sins on the cross. The mansion lets us realize he broke the power of sin on the cross. The cottage is where we acknowledge that he forgave all our sins. The mansion is where we experience freedom from the power that sin has over us. The cottage gives us assurance that Christ was crucified, buried, and resurrected. The mansion startles with the truth that our “old self” was crucified with him and that we are supposed to live as if we truly believe that we were buried with him and raised to “walk in newness of life” by the Holy Spirit.

Cottage living lures us to believe the lie that we cannot change, that we are powerless to overcome the broken places, that we will just have to continue to live defeated by our shortcomings and failures. Absolutely not so! God has already given us the key to unlock the mansion door. Passages like Romans 6 and 2 Corinthians 5 are just two of the powerful passages that explain what he has in store.

So do yourself a favor, move in and hide out in those two rooms for a while. Life, as you know it presently, will be altogether transformed.

Elizabeth A. Mitchell