Tired of all the drama and difficulties associated with 2020, many are looking forward to turning the calendar-page into a new year. We say, “Out with the old and in with the new.” Things of the past will not soon be forgotten. Nor, will the new year be without challenges of its own. But, somehow, even the symbolic gesture of turning the page on the calendar can spark renewed hope in what the Lord may do through us in the year ahead.
But, we must lay aside the old in order to fully embrace the new. New furniture isn’t placed beside the furniture purchased to replace it. When we buy a new car, we trade in or sell the old one rather than leaving it in front of our house to rust and deteriorate. Again, we are told it is a good idea to donate or discard one item of clothing for each newly purchased one. All this, because life gets complicated when we hold on to so many unnecessary things.
The same is true in the spiritual realm. Some nurse grudges which long ago should have been laid to rest. Others carry with them the heavy burden of guilt over sins which long since have been forgiven. Still others are tossed back and forth by worries over which they have no control. There is only one thing that truly matters and that is sitting at the feet of Jesus to feed upon His life-sustaining words (Lk. 10:41-42).
Yet, many of us have clothes in our closet we shouldn’t wear anymore. When in faith, we clothe ourselves with Christ in baptism, we are raised to walk in newness of life (Gal. 3:26-27; Rm. 6:4). Old things have passed away and new things have come (2 Cor. 5:17). Why do we hold on to the old garment of sin, keeping it in our spiritual closet, when it should have long since been discarded? (Rm. 13:14). Worse still, why would we take out again a garment that defiles the name of our precious Lord and leads us into a spiritual condition Peter aptly describes as being worse than if we had never known the way of righteousness? (2 Pet. 2:21). Clean out your closet so you can put on the new self who is being shaped into the image of Christ (Col. 3:10). Then, come what may, each day is filled with new mercies (Lam. 3:23). Forgetting what lies behind, we reach forward with eager anticipation to lies ahead (Ph. 3:14).
–Glen Elliott–