| Revelation 21:5 – “He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” |
Have you ever gone back to your childhood home or hometown and found that everything looked entirely different? I had the chance to take a trip with my oldest sister and go back to the farm where we lived as children. Even before we drove down the long driveway, I could tell that so much had changed. There used to be a large garden and a small gated area where we kept the chickens and my brother’s 4H sheep. The old barn was gone, along with a few smaller outbuildings. In their place was a beautiful new barn and I had heard that the new owners raised and boarded horses.
We stayed in the car but looked at the house from the outside – the basic shape was the same and the memories came flooding back, but yet it was unfamiliar since many things seemed different. I hadn’t expected things to stay the same for 50 years, but the changes unsettled me a bit. Our trip continued with a stop at our old elementary school, which is not a school anymore but was divided into small apartments. Trees were gone, new homes had been built in entirely new subdivisions, and even the rickety old bridge near our farm had been replaced.
I feel like God looks at us much the same way. Not content to leave us as we are, he wants to remove what is no longer beneficial and for us to put away our childish things so he can build us up into new and better lives. He doesn’t want us to hang on to habits that are familiar to us but outdated, but rather wants us to find new purpose and ways to serve. Memories (even those of better times) are nice, but we cannot live in the past. God wants to make us new and equip us for service and worship today and into the future.
Prayer: Dear Father, while it is fun to go down memory lane and relive exciting times from our youth, help me stay focused on the future and be willing to let go of the things that are holding me back. Build in me new skills and open fresh doors for me. I want to serve you today and forever.
– Betty Gossell
