God likes new

There’s just something neat about new. The smell of a new car, the look and feel of a new gadget, the cuteness of a new puppy.

For lots of folks in our area, a new school year started this past week. There’s optimism in the air, isn’t there? Yep, I messed up last year, but this year’s gonna be different.

It’s a beautiful new slate, clean start, a fresh beginning. A brand new me for this new academic year.

God likes new things too, I think. Paul celebrates it here:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).

God gives newness, but it’s not tied to the calendar, of course. And it has nothing to do with our commitments to do better or be better.

He gives newness in Christ. In fact, he recreates us in Christ, which is incredible.

All those sins? Gone.

The guilt, hopelessness, living-only-for-self? A thing of the past.

God gives you a new identity with a new hope, a new outlook, and a new future.

Maybe that’s just what you need today. Maybe you’ve gotten sidetracked lately, gotten your priorities out of whack, became a little self-serving. Now’s a good time to change that.

God’s not bound by our academic or fiscal calendars, of course, but there’s no better time than today to ask God to give you a fresh start.

If you’re not a follower of Christ, trust in him as God’s Son and connect to his crucifixion and resurrection in baptism.

Maybe you obeyed the gospel long ago, but today what you need more than anything is for him to be your Lord and Savior once again.

Ask him. He’ll make you new, completely new, beautifully new.

In Christ, “the new has come.”
—Chuck