New - Week 1
Daily Scripture Readings
Monday: Romans 12:1-2
Tuesday: Acts 9:1-6
Wednesday: Galatians 2:11-20
Thursday: Ephesians 2:11-22
Friday: Galatians 6:12-16
Saturday: Luke 22:14-20
Opening Prayer
Gracious God, help to make me new. Let me simply be informed, let me be transformed. Make me a new creation in Christ.
AMEN
Reading
When you spend time with the Lord in prayer each day, it is good to begin your prayer with praises to God. Verses 1-5 of this Psalm would be excellent to pray as a One of my favorite past times involves watching home renovation shows. There is something magical about the transformation of a tired old room into a cozy place of rest. From decrepit and broken to new and restored. From hideous and unsightly to beautiful and welcoming. From useless to useful.
Having lived through a renovation project, I can assure you there is nothing magical about the process itself! My husband and I spent three years renovating an old home. It was tedious and tiresome. Many evenings were spent tearing down old walls, pulling out nails, getting dirty, tired, and sometimes, frustrated. But the result was a home that was beautiful, refreshing, functional, and welcoming.
Why is it human nature receives so much satisfaction in viewing the process of transformation? We delight in watching this progression over and over again as is evidenced by the popularity of renovating shows on HGTV and similar channels. We simply can’t get enough of seeing what was once old and ugly being renewed into something our minds had not conceived.
Perhaps we are drawn to this process because it reflects the very work that God longs to do in each of our hearts and lives. When we receive Christ as our Savior, we exchange our old life for a new one. We exchange sin for forgiveness, pride for humility, legalism for grace, fear for love, weakness for strength, and anger for joy.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation is come; the old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
Once we surrender our lives to God, He sends his Holy Spirit to dwell within us and begin a process of transformation.
MARIA DYCK