PUTTING OFF THE OLD
Ephesians 4:22-24
... put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
I just spent a beautiful fall morning in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan hunting grouse with a couple friends and a good bird dog. It was truly a great day in God's creation. The trees were in full color display and the leaves were falling steadily. Watching the trees shed their leaves reminded me of the passage in Ephesians where the Apostle Paul tells us to put off the old and put on the new. Just as the trees are shedding their old leaves in preparation for new leaves in the coming spring season, we are told to put off our old self which was a life of corrupt, deceitful desires and renew our minds and put on our new self, created after the likeness of God in righteousness and holiness.
When we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we become a new creation with a renewed mind that no longer desires a life of corruption and deceitfulness. Our new desires are to please God and live a life after the likeness of God in righteousness and holiness. Old things have passed away and all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us... "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away: behold all things are become new."
As Christians, we have been created new. The old life is gone and a new life has emerged. The past is gone and finished and the desire for the old way of living has disappeared. We now have a new identity as a son or daughter of God. Are you becoming like Christ, living for others, and living a life defined by grace, forgiveness, and salvation? Our prayer daily should be that we are continually renewed and made new through the life, death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior; Jesus Christ.
written by
By Tim Jones
God's Great Outdoors
Chairman of the board
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