04/06/2024
CHANGE
When you boil life down to the nubbies, the name of the game is change. Those who flex the times refuse to be rigid, resist the mold, and reject the rut--ah, those are the souls distinctively used by God. To them, change is a challenge, a fresh breeze that flows through the room of routine and blows away the stale air of sameness.
Stimulating and invigorating as change may be--it is never easy. Before you get all jazzed about some quick and easy change you plan to carry out, better to read the sentence again, pal. Changes are especially tough when it come to certains habits that haunt and harm us. That kind of is excruciating--but it isn't impossible...
The flesh dies a slow, bitter, bloody death--kicking and struggling all the way down. " PUTTING OFF " the clothes of the old man (the old habitual lifestyle) will not be complete until you determine to " PUT ON " the garment of the new man (the new, fresh, Christian lifestyle). The tailor's name is change, and he is the master at fitting your frame. But the process will be painful ...and costly.
Change---real change---takes place slowly. In the first gear, not overdrive. Far too many Christians get discouraged and give up. Like ice skating ⛸️ or mastering a musical 🎼 instrument or learning water ski, certain techniques have to be discovered and developed in the daily discipline of living. Breaking habit patterns you established during the passing years cannot occur in a few brief days. Remember that, " Instant " change is a rare as it phony.
God did not give His Word to satisfy our curiosity; He gave it to change our lives. Can you name a couple of specific changes God has implemented in your life during the pass six or eight months? Has He been allowed, for example, to change your attitude towards someone. . .or and area of stubbornness. . .or a deep seated habit that has hurt your home and hindered your relationship with others for a long . . Long time. . .or a pattern of discourtesy in your driving. . .or a profane tongue. . . or cheating. . .or laziness?. . .
The tailor's real name is HOLY SPIRIT. You can count on Him to dispose of your old threadbare wardrobe as quickly as He outfits you with the new. By the way, He's also call on twenty-Four hours a day when you have the urge to slip into the old duds "just one more time." If you ask Him . He'll help you remember what you look like on the day you first walked into His shop. His has a mirror with memories-- The Bible.
--Charles Swindoll
