Renewed!

Have you ever wanted a “do over?” Unfortunately, we can’t take back ugly words spoken in anger and haste, nor can we wipe from history’s pages mistakes we’ve made and hurts or wrongs we’ve inflicted in the process. Time and opportunities lost can never be bought back.

But our God is a God of second, and third, and seventy times seven chances (Matthew 18: 21-22). The moment we put our faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation, we became a new creation in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15). This change is so dramatic that Jesus spoke of it as being born again (John 3: 3-8).

With His grace, we can start over every time we repent of our sins and ask Him for forgiveness. We can put behind us mistakes of the past and reach forward to our brilliant future (Philippians 3:12-14) as His children and ambassadors. He can wash away our sins, turn our sorrow into joy and praise, and renew a right spirit within us (Psalm 30; Psalm 51).

He divided time into day and night (Genesis 1:5), so that we could remember not to carry over hurts, grudges, or anger into the next day (Ephesians 4:26). We can cast our cares on Him (1 Peter 5:7) each night as our head sinks into the pillow, and we can praise His name each morning as we realize that His love is as faithful as the sunrise. Each day is His special gift to us, worthy of rejoicing over (Psalm 118:24), and His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Meditating on His Word is the perfect way to renew our mind (Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23). Rather than letting the world dictate what we think and how we act, we can keep our eyes fixed on Him and focus on His light, love and goodness (Phil. 4:6-10). If we ask Him to, He will align our mind more and more with the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), being conformed to His image even if through sufferings (Phil. 3: 9-10).

Like Paul, we should be torn between the desire to be here on earth with our loved ones, serving them and others while we seek to do God’s will, and the desire to trade in this ailing body and corrupted heart for the glorified, sinless being that awaits us (Phil. 1: 20-24; 2 Corinthians 5: 1-8; Romans 8:18-23). Our ultimate renewal shall come in our holy new body, with our new name (Revelation 3:12), living eternally with Him in the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2).

Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.