“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
– 2 Corinthians 5:17
How many times have you dreamt of running away from your current life so that you could start fresh, begin again? To wipe the slate clean and start over? Perhaps you have been given the opportunity to do so? Once, twice, three times? Perhaps it wasn’t always in the way you had imagined it would be- perhaps less than ideal? Maybe a separation or divorce led to this starting over? A death in your family? A job loss? A new job? An eviction? You get the idea!
All of us have, no doubt, had the opportunity, whether it be forced or voluntary, to start again to some extent. The question is how did our new beginning turnout? Was the grass greener on the other side as we had imagined and persuaded ourselves it would be? Or did we find ourselves looking back at our “old grass” reminiscing on the past and what was? Of course, the circumstances surrounding the change can certainly affect our state of mind concerning what was and what has come into being.
Once time has passed in our new life, our new situation, what did we find? Where we right back where we were prior to the change? Had the same types of problems, crises, stressors, sins, reared their ugly heads in our lives again? My guess is that they most certainly did! We humans love to live out the definition of insanity in our daily lives- you know, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result! A viscous cycle that every time we find ourselves in the midst of we will lie to ourselves and say “if only I could catch a break and start again…if I could just escape this I know things would be better, different…I’ll never get in this much debt again if I can just get out from under the weight of the debt I have now!” You get the picture?
How do we stop this viscous cycle? For real? For good? How do we find new coping mechanisms so that we do not run out and buy something when we are lonely? How do we stop ourselves from calling that person to come over that we know is bad news for us because we are craving affection? How do we stop going back to the bottle? To drugs? To bad relationships? How do we stop?
Simple! We just stop! We turn around and look to Christ! We admit that going on in our way, with our tendencies and remedies, is Not, and will Not, work! We surrender to Christ Jesus! We go and sin no more- no matter the pull of our weak flesh- no matter the pull of the things of this world- no matter what those around us say or do- we deny ourselves and trust in Him!
And wouldn’t you know it- if we discipline ourselves as His disciples, seeking Him first above all else, remaining obedient to Him- we will one day be shocked to see that we no longer desire what we once did, our desires have been changed! Our coping mechanisms reworked! Our eye no longer selfishly focused on our wants, desires, goals, and plans! Instead, everything about us we give to Him! This is when we truly start again- a life that will never end- a joyous life spent searching out the depths of God for eternity!
Let us start again every morning in the Word of the Lord, walking in obedience to His commands, living this life for evermore. A life where old things have passed away, all things are become new!
As You Rise 