OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW
The New Year is a few hours away. My mind races at the thought of all the new things that will come my way this year.
What will I learn?
How will I grow and mature and change?
What can I let go of?
What can I invite in?
I love all the potential a New Year holds. Like the calendar I just purchased, my year is yet to be written on. Every square is blank and the possibilities are endless. As the ball drops in New York and December 31 comes to a close, all things are made new.
God likes The New.
He loves the glory of a New morning.
He basks in the melody of a New song.
He carefully chooses a New name for each of us.
With excitement in His voice, He invites us to witness The New He is creating before our very eyes. He likes sharing The New with us. And He gets downright giddy at the thought of moving us from The Old to The New.
With Jesus Christ, all things are made New. But with New names, New mornings, and New songs, there is no place for The Old. God won’t put new wine into old wineskins because The Old and The New are not compatible. The Old is unceremoniously asked to leave the party. After a few awkward protests, He leaves in a huff. And The New envelopes, moves, stirs our hearts and changes our minds. We have been transformed. The New has come.
Yet The Old still lurks in the shadows. He may not be in the building, but he is still around--peering in windows and searching for the crack in a doorway where he can come close. The Old lingers-- limp and inefficient—grasping for whatever power he might find. The Old waits for the right time to strike.
The Old likes to get us alone.
When we have unwittingly wandered a bit outside the hub of excitement and into the darker corners of our memories, The Old puts his mouth right up against the crevices of our hearts and whispers. He offers dark accusations and regrets. He tries desperately to overshadow the brilliance of The New with the dull and the dead.
The Old clings to ugliness, pain, and unforgiveness because that is all he has to offer. He tries to bully The New into believing he’s bigger and stronger than names or songs.
And sometimes, if we are tired or hurting or not paying attention, we listen.
But The Old holds no real power. The Old is limited to the finite time of what was. It is The New that has the power of the unknown, untapped, and unlimited. Only The New offers the fresh possibility of a New Year, New day, New hour, New moment. The Old can only replay and recycle what has been. The Old will never breathe the air of what is to come.
We have been made New, are being made New, and we will be made New.
We are children of the God who is, who was, and who will be.
Out with The Old, in with The New.
This year, may you live in the freedom of The New-- leaving The Old far behind (just where it belongs).
Happy New Year.
“Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (God’s Word Translation)
Melissa Maimone is a speaker & writer and serves as the emcee at Seasons Weekend. MelissaMaimone.com
