Reflection: God tells me in this verse that since I/you (who believes) belong to Christ, we are now new persons. Our old life is gone, and we are now walking in our new beginnings. It is like God writing every sorry thing that we had done, then crumpling the paper and throwing it in a trashcan. And then, He said, “ Let us start all over again.” We all get a fresh and clean start.” For me, it began more than 35 years ago. Quite a life-changing journey, will I say.
Just to think how I was before I gave my life to God. I was pitiful, hateful, unforgiving, angry, fearful, unlovable, poor, fool, dirty and Oh my….the list can be very long. I am so grateful though that although I was underserving to receive God’s grace and forgiveness, He did it anyway…he died for my sins….and of course for yours too. There is still a lot that needs to be changed in me, but thankfully, I am a way lot better than before. I am now living up to my name which means HAPPY. And I am really happy despite never-ending challenges every day because blessings are abundant too.
My life now is to try to live after God’s principles with help from God. It helps to remember that if I sin, it damages my dignity. Every time I break God’s law, I hurt other people and myself. It is like my soul is dividing itself and it leads to heartache. It does not matter if I keep myself busy or not to think of it. Consequences will be there, now or in eternity. It will just file up inside me that one day, burdens will be difficult to carry. Remembering makes me aware of how I live my life and avoid sin.
I am thankful though that Jesus is in the restoring business. He can restore me and of course, you too if you and I stumble and fall to sin. Because we are in Christ, it does not matter what we had done or whom we had done it with. It does not matter where we had been. Whether we soaked ourselves with mire or do many foolish things that we are ashamed of and to talk about it. What really matters is what direction our feet are headed today. God says our past is history, our lives have sanctity, and our identity has dignity because Jesus died for us. With Christ, we are brand new persons, and our citizenship is in heaven. We belong to “HEAVENLY AND GODLY CREATURES!”
