A Grave is a Rut With Both Ends Kicked Out!

          I used to spend a lot of time walking in the mall early in the morning before the stores would open. Most of the stores would be closed with the exception of the coffee shops and would not open until 10:00 in the morning. At around 9:59, you could hear the metal gates being rolled up into the top of the channel or pushed to one side to allow entrance into the store. Everyone was poised and ready for this morning scenario. Many people have morning routines that one could almost do blindfolded or in their sleep. After I arrive in the kitchen, the first thing I do is take my morning medication, making sure the little pink pill is in my hand which is one of the most necessary for my blood. Then, I check my sugar level and draw the appropriate amount of insulin into the needle and put it aside at my breakfast spot. Then, I make my coffee and check my email. This is my “normal” routine and at this point in my life is one of the things that can still be said to be “normal.” Recent conditions of disturbed many of our routines and forced us to do things we have not done nor in the time slot that they are usually done. We then look at this new routine as “not being normal.” We then feel that we can't wait to get back to “normal” again. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

         There comes a point in our lives when things made a drastic change and that was the day that you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Things left the realm of “normalcy” and became something new. New patterns were being established as you now find that there are different things to do in your life that were not a part of your old life. You suddenly find yourself trying to communicate with God through prayer and you also find that you have a life that is filled with peace and hope where before, it felt like life was a big rut of doing this over and over and over again. Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, mentions this in the above verse when he made the statement that we now have something “new” in our lives. New things replace the old things that were like weights hanging around our necks. Old things were passed away. We now find ourselves with a lot of new things such as new patterns, new desires, new friends, new peace and new hope. After you met the Lord Jesus Christ, you never again thought about going back to “normal” as it was before you met Him. You might want to think twice before you say that you want things to go back to “normal.” Has God done anything special in your life in the past several months? Do you find yourself spending more time in His Word or in prayer as you communicate to Him looking for answers? Have you found that you now know a couple of new neighbors? Praise God today for all of the “new” things that are in your life.