A New Creation

An old piano was given to us many years ago. It was a Cable Nelson Upright Grand. Although I am not musically gifted, nor had I been taught to play the piano, I thought it might be fun to learn. That never materialized the way I envisioned, but it is now possible for my right hand to stammer through a song if there are not many sharps or flats. My left hand continues to not know what it’s doing. It took three strong men to move the piano into our house. Pianos are quite heavy.

This piano has been around since 1945, possibly a bit longer. Its finish was a dark stained veneer which had begun to get that crackled appearance. When I dusted it, it didn’t shine. Certain keys would stick during the dry winter months. Little kids loved playing terrible, made-up songs on it. For all these years, the piano has remained here in my study, unchanged and largely ignored (other than those little kids playing terrible songs on it.)

Due to an interesting upcoming plot twist in my life, we’ve spent some time this summer re-arranging my study. The one thing I wasn’t sure of was the piano. Did I mention how heavy pianos are? We are not the young strapping lads and lasses that we were when it was hauled into this house. How was I going to get it out of here? What was I going to do with it? In a bid to save my beloved better half from getting a hernia, I decided to dismantle it before we got rid of it. Sad, I know, but no one wants a piano these days.

Taking it apart was amazingly easy. Did you know you can dissect an entire piano using only a flat head screwdriver? It’s true. I did. And that is when things took a turn in another unexpected direction. The old piano, it seemed, looked like it would make a great desk. The veneer, after days and days and hours and hours of sanding off the old topcoat and stain, turned out to be a beautiful color. A coat of polyurethane later and it was glossy once more. The exposed harp, still quite attached to the back of the piano, makes my heart happy. This old piano that sat here with me all these years, has transformed into something completely different. It has found a new life and purpose in this world. Its appearance has changed but for the better. It’s heart, the harp, is still there, bearing it’s maker’s mark uncovered for the world to see: Cable Nelson. At its core, it is still a piano, but now it can do things and be of use in ways that it couldn’t before.

That’s how it is when we have Jesus in our hearts. That sounds cheesy, but it’s true. On our own, we are like the piano. We age and we crack. Our keys stick. We get out of tune. If left to our own devices, we lose our usefulness and purpose. We lack the ability to truly change ourselves. We get in a rut. We sit there, doing nothing but gathering dust and feeling bad for ourselves. We’re no longer shiny or musical.

But then along comes Jesus. If we’re willing to let him, he takes us apart and cleans us up. He takes out the parts that are no longer beneficial and gets rid of them. He keeps the essence of who we are as individuals and he makes us into something better, something that we didn’t know we could become. He thinks outside the box and a new creation is born. We can do things we couldn’t do before! This amazing transformation is only possible through Jesus Christ. My piano didn’t take itself apart and sand itself (I wish it had) and we don’t change our own hearts. We need God’s help to be reborn. It’s an ongoing process. When all is done, there we are, a new creation bearing our maker’s mark on our heart. The beauty that was once hidden within is now out in the open for all the world to see.

My piano had no idea that it could be an awesome desk- it probably just thought it would continue to be a piano all its life. We can be something new and awesome, too! Don’t be afraid to let Jesus change you. He’s got great ideas for you. You are going to be really cool when he’s done.