Has the NEW already worn off?!?! It’s January 9th as I write this, and I feel the shine being pulled away from the year like the plastic film we remove from our new electronics. But is it? Of course the “new” goes away from everything we buy. It vanishes from our furniture and our new ‘toys’ and even our clothes (sometimes as early as first time through the wash!). But what about this new year? Does its newness leave in less than two weeks? Yes. Haha. YES. This sounds cynical, but it is not. Keep reading…
The reality is time goes by, seasons change, and living continues – occasionally feeling mundane, maybe often feeling mundane depending who you are. We see the season of new is a short-lived one, a season quickly fading into the ruts of the living we have so carefully blocked out with the greatest work and skill. YET…there is LIFE and HOPE for the NEW.
I recently listened to James B Richards speak about the difference between being transformed and conformed from Romans 12:1-2. We are conformed by or to the world – indicating the pressure from the outside forms us to its will or shape. Conformed comes outside in. When we feel the loss of the new year, new life, new connection to our Father, we have been in a pressure cooker of the world and its demands, the friends and the job with their expectations…we have been being conformed. BUT transformation is an entirely different thing! Nearly everyone has heard the analogy of the caterpillar to the butterfly; it is the perfect example here. The caterpillar has everything he needs within himself to change into the butterfly – God-given life and transformation. Mister Caterpillar can turn into Mister Butterfly BECAUSE of what’s inside him. We are the same…if we are in a relationship with Jesus – if we have accepted His sacrifice for us and entered this new life – we are the same. We have everything in us that we need to become, no to be transformed. The “stuff” that transforms us resides within us; all of the DNA is there to make it work.
So why the cycle? Why hasn’t it “worked” yet. The reasons may be many, but it comes down to what you believe. And I don’t mean ‘believe’ in the American view of the word, I mean ‘believe’ in the Eastern Culture’s view of the word. There is not belief apart from doing. If you believe, you do, it is, you experience it, it is part of your life! The believing must be planted into your heart to become, and this planting is part of the believing.
There’s so much more to be said! But to keep this from becoming too long for my ADHD friends (smile) I am going to end here…
The new may have worn off, it may feel gone, BUT the good news is – You have the new just sitting inside of you waiting to be woken up. Every morning is new, in fact, every minute is new. So, if you’re not feeling it – stir it up my friend. Awaken your spirit, soul, and body to the reality that exists. Arise, Shine, for Your Light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon and within YOU.