After you become a believer of Christ, you become a temple of the Lord, or in essence, a house of the Lord. God’s call is for us to renovate this house and take responsibility for where we are now and where we’re going. 

C.S. Lewis, a British writer and lay theologian, had a wonderful view on coming to faith. He said: “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, and making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

Friend, the idea is that when we live in God’s Kingdom and His Spirit lives within us, he’s doing a good work that demands we don’t become a quaint little cottage. We actually become a palace for Him. This process of discipleship requires work. It takes effort and it is by God’s grace alone.