Out with the Old, in with the New

Maybe it’s time for some changes…

Have you ever had a sofa such a long time that the legs were getting wobbly, the fabric was wearing thin, and the grape juice, ketchup, and gravy stains were painful to see? When we make the decision to buy a new sofa, we shop around and find just the right one. We’re super excited when the delivery truck pulls into our driveway.

Can you imagine anyone having the delivery people put the beautiful new couch on top of the old couch? Just stack it on top of that dirty, worn, broken down couch…said no one, ever! No, we get rid of the old couch and replace it with the new.

But sometimes we’re not as careful with our hearts. We try to put our beautiful God stuff on top of our old, messed-up junk. And that’s a mistake. Our hearts need to be maintained carefully, and that includes getting rid of untruths, bad attitudes, and incorrect thinking.

Jesus didn’t come to tidy us up a little. He came to make us brand new.

“Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new creation. All that is related to the old order has vanished. Behold, everything is fresh and new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This includes our old identity, our old thought patterns, and our old sinful behavior. We aren’t just tweaked a little—we’re made completely new.

There’s danger in allowing the old things back into our hearts. We must be on guard to keep the junk and mess out. Proverbs 4:23 says, “So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life.” If we’re not on guard, if we’re not paying attention, our heart can become cluttered with things that don’t belong there.

To check our hearts, we can ask these questions:

• How do I spend my time?
• How do I spend my money?
• What do I think about?
• What words are coming out of my mouth?

Our time, money, thoughts, and words are pretty good indicators of the status of our hearts.

Let’s offer it all up to Jesus and ask him to help us get rid of attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors that are cluttering up our hearts and our lives. Growth happens when change happens. Maybe it’s time to declutter our hearts. Maybe it’s time to cast aside thoughts and behaviors that are old and need to be replaced. Maybe it’s time to get rid of the old and replace it with the new.

Dear God, I never want to fall back into the person I was before I met you. Help me guard my heart. Reveal to me any junk in my heart that needs to be replaced. I offer all that I am to you. Help me continue to grow in you. In Jesus’s name, amen.