New Things
By Michael Pemberton

 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”  –II Corinthians 5:17

I can't believe it!  Here I am nearly 40 years old and my wife is pregnant with our third child.  I'm standing here in the bedroom staring at the test kit in disbelief.  But this is the second test and they were both positive.  There is really no doubt, we are having another child.  This is almost as epic as when I found out we were pregnant the first time, 14 years ago.

Suddenly everything has changed.  I find I'm excited about the prospect of having a baby around the house again.  Although we've given away all our baby stuff thinking we were all done with it.  But this feeling goes even beyond all that.  I had plans for traveling the world when the kids left the house.  Plans for early retirement.  Now, all those plans are gone.  There's an amount of sadness for the plans that won't be.  But there's a far greater amount of joy for the adventures of the new life in our family.  Suddenly, tomorrow doesn't look the same as it did yesterday.  It kind of reminds me of what happened to me when I got saved. 

Consider this: From the moment God does the work of salvation in the repentant soul, the future for that person changes completely.  The uncertainty of eternity is now a certainty of heaven.  The darkness of God's disapproval of sin is replaced by the brightness of his forgiveness in Jesus.  All the old things are gone, and in their place, stand new things.  Things like joy, peace, spiritual appetites and faith replace the things of the old person.  I can still remember how it felt to know that all things were become new for me.  If you've ever been saved, you know what I mean.

I can still remember.  But sometimes, it seems I forget.  My future, and my very self, have been changed for all eternity, and I get so caught up in this life that I act like they weren't.  It's like being a millionaire and living like a beggar.  I don't know if it's a sin, but it sure is a shame.  It seems to me that the people of God should live like they were going some place good.

When was the last time that you took the time to meditate on the work God did in you?  Can you remember what it was like when you first came to grips with the awful and complete condemnation of the law of God?  Do you remember the desperation when your every excuse melted before its unyielding revelation of your sin?  Can you recall how the free forgiveness of God, for the sake of Jesus, seemed unbelievable?  Can your heart still feel the almost overwhelming comfort that came to you when you first dared to ask the Lord of lords to make you one of his own?

It is a terrible crime when the people of God trifle with the wealth of heaven at the expense of souls bound for hell.  Let's determine to focus today on living like we, and our future, were forever different.