“Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17)
In 2021, everyone is desiring a fresh start and a new beginning. Usually, we want a fresh start after we’ve made a mess of a situation or as we begin a new chapter in our lives. Claren and I have started afresh several times. We’ve gone from Mobile to New Orleans to Central Pennsylvania to Costa Rica to Uruguay and now to Carrollton, Alabama. Each fresh start has had its own challenges and opportunities. However, as God has guided us through each of them, we’ve seen Him work.
The challenges and opportunities of 2020 have been difficult to see and understand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been tainted everything…work, school, family, friends, church, etc… There is nothing that hasn’t been affected. Now with the promise of a vaccine, some are hopeful while others are doubters.
In our focal passage, Paul’s experience with Christ gave him a new perspective about life and about himself. He could not remain the same person who watched Stephen being stoned and persecuting the Christian church. Paul knew that in Christ his old life was gone. Christ had made him a new creature, a new man. Is this not what Christ has done in each of us who are His followers? We are new men and women. We are not who we were before knowing Him.
This new relationship in Christ gives me hope because I see the world through His eyes and His perspective and not my own. If I were to dwell on how terrible things are now, then I wouldn’t want to continue in this life either. However, my life and my perspective has been transformed by seeing people, seeing situations, and seeing life from Christ’s way of thinking. Do we not understand that we have a new set of standards by which we are living?
As I start fresh the 2021 calendar year, I do so knowing that Christ is walking with me through these new challenges and opportunities because I am a new person in Him. As you begin 2021, may you see this new year from Christ’s perspective? If you do not know Christ, then He offers you that opportunity to accept Him and become a new creation. Desire a fresh start and a new beginning!