In our culture, we tend to like new things: new cars, new houses, new technology, new clothes. Here we are in the new year of 2015, and many of us make New Year’s resolutions for all the new things we are going to implement. “Newness” is attractive. It feels good and exciting to think about new ideas and circumstances.
In the Bible, it talks about being a new creation with God; “therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; the old has gone, and the new is here” (2 Corinthians 5:17)! When I read this, I feel positive and optimistic, but when I think about how this applies in my own life, I feel confused then, in response, frustrated. Being a new creation is a concept that I struggle with. How do I do it? What do I do? I don’t feel new. What is that new creation supposed to look like? I could get caught up asking frustrating questions like this for a very long time, but what is important is what does God tell me about his desire for something new in my life?
God tells me to “sing to the Lord a new song” (Psalm 33:3, 96:1, 98:1. 144:9, 149:1). Letting me know that God wants me to share the new things that happen to me every day with him. Another “new” that God covers is the new life that we are to live in him, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). One of the ways I try to understand this passage is to be aware of “deceitful desires.” I need to continually embrace honesty and discard deceit at all levels: being honest with myself when someone hurts my feelings, making a false excuse to get off the phone with someone, being too liberal on some estimation for my taxes, lying about why I am not coming in to work one day, or avoiding confrontation by telling a lie to myself and/or someone else. I find it interesting the verse states, “is being corrupted” as though it is an ongoing process to guard against. Deceit/dishonesty can come in all levels of my existence from lying to myself, to others, to God. The new song I can sing is the truth, righteousness, and holiness that God gives me the opportunity to choose. When I ponder this with regard to “the old has gone, and the new is here,” I get excited and feel hopeful. I see how truth applies to my life. There are so many levels of truth and honesty. Similar to the list above, it took me a long time to start being the “me” God created me to be–a level of personal honesty. Honesty and truth are things I constantly have to pursue, as my deceitful desires want to corrupt me, as stated in the text above. I need to be aware of this and continually choose honesty. As soon as I think I have it down, another layer of dishonesty is revealed–dishonesty of which I wasn’t aware. However, what I know is that honesty feels good; the truth is freeing. Truth is a new life–a new way of life which feels new. It is the one thing that in all of this, I can turn to and say that I know it is what God wants from me and for me. And that is the new life he wants me to choose.
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