Something New

Something New

Look, I am making everything new! Revelation 21:5

I love and anticipate the day of this verse. I am overwhelmed with excitement over the prospect of a life where death is a distant memory, where tears are outdated and pain has ceased to grip my body, mind and soul. I am excited abut this new world that God has for us, this new place of life that Christ said he was going to prepare for us (John 14:2). This promise of a new life reminds me that there is something worth looking forward to while I am in the midst of difficult circumstances. But of all these things, the one thing God wants to change most is me.

When I think of "the new" my mind conjures up visions of Heaven’s Shining ones come to give me understanding, peace and to reveal secrets. And while this may indeed be the case in the future, until that day comes, the Lord is preparing me for Heaven life with a few simple basics to learn. God says that I should have the faith of a child (Mark 10:15). He says that being obedient is proof that I belong (1 John 2:5) and that love is (or should be) my primary identification (John 13:35). I think the reality is that I cannot step into God's new life without first having been made new by the work of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

A time is coming when I will be changed in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). Maybe in the future I will be so new and different that I can finally reconcile with my enemies. Maybe I'll be so different that I will fully trust God even when I am disappointed. Maybe my departure from fear will be so radical that I will always make mention of Christ and what he has done for me.

And maybe… these are the things that God wants for me, but not in the future. He wants me to act in these things right now.