OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW!

2 Corinthians 5:17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 

Okay maybe this example is a little lame but it's the only example I have right now of old and new.  you see when Jerry and I bought this home last year, we also bought the boat that the previous owners had.  It was a very nice boat, it ran great and everything.  it's just that my grandchildren were totally bored being pulled behind a boat with a 50 horsepower engine.  They wanted speed!  So instead of buying a speed boat, we just bought a new pontoon boat with a more powerful engine.  The grandchildren and the rest of us are happy now.  I know that buying a boat is not biblical, although Jesus did spend a lot of tie in boats.  Sorry I lost my concentration for a moment.  Anyway the thing is to acquire the new, we first had to get rid of the old.  Sure we could have kept the old boat, but why?  It just didn't make sense,  So many times we hang on to the old things, hoping that maybe some day on the future we may have an opportunity to use them.  Storage facilities are full of people's old stuff that they can't or don't want to get rid of.  Basements, attics and garages are fill to overflowing with stuff we don't use or stuff that is broken, but it just contains so many memories.  People it is time to get rid of that old baggage you've been hanging onto for generations.  We can't make room for the new if we are constantly hanging onto the old.  

Let's face it, there is some old stuff that can be valuable.   After all someone's junk is someone else's treasures, right?  Oh bull!  Sorry but I don't believe that at all.  Someone's junk becomes your junk.  That pile of old stuff we can't use just keeps piling higher and higher until someone calls "Hoarders" on us.  It's a sad reality on this life that people cling to old stuff instead of embracing people and life.  Boxes upon boxes upon boxes all stacked to the ceiling with rats and mice and spiders and flies infesting a home because someone cannot get rid of the old stuff.  Okay before we go any farther, yes memories are special and yes some old things should be kept, but if we kept everything that we may use, might use or that might come in handy some day, junk yards would be empty and we couldn't get out our front door.   There is no way on the earth that we can keep buying stuff without getting rid of the old stuff, it's just impossible.  I have a hard time understanding some of the old stuff we cling to.  I mean if someone said you had a choice between an old hand me down shirt or a brand new one, which would you chose?  

Well just like old things that we cling to, we also cling to our old habits, our old friends, our old baggage.  We keep hanging to these things hoping we never have to get rid of them.  We cherish our baggage and wear it proudly like a badge of courage.   We tell everyone we know what we have been through and we whine and complain about how tough our life has been.  We relive every painful memory and share it with anyone who will listen.  We cling to our old friends just because they're comfortable.  We can get drunk with them and they will just carry us home and laugh it off with us tomorrow.  Our old habits, well they're just comfy so to get rid of them means change and change scars the tar out of us.  Are you kidding me?  Okay let me say it this way.  If there was someone who promised you a permanent vacation on a caribbean island paradise, would you take it?  Think hard on this one.  What if the only stipulation was that you had to get rid of all the old stuff in your life.  Would you do it?  How fast would you find new friends who would help you stop drinking?  How fast would you throw out all that old baggage you've been clinging to for years?  How quickly would you create new habits, better habits?  Would you give up all that old stuff for a new life filled with peace and joy and laughter?   Would you give it up for paradise?   

Listen, Jesus Christ is offering that to you today!  That's right, right this very moment you can have the promise of paradise.  All the old stuff gone.  All those problems, all those fears, all those sins that have been weighing you down and dragging you down, wiped away!  In a flash you can grab a hold of the new life Jesus died to give you.  But there is a catch.  You have to believe in Jesus.  You have to accept Him into your heart and believe.  By doing this, life on this earth will not always be easy but when you stop to think that an eternity in paradise is what's waiting for you, earth ain't so bad!  After all on earth we are only here for 70 - 80 years if we're lucky, but eternity is forever!  As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!  I am out with the old and in with the new!  I have never regretted getting rid of some of my old friends who really don't understand me now, because I have new friends who totally get me.  I do not regret getting rid of my old habits and forming new ones that have filled me with peace and love.  I have n regrets getting rid of that old baggage that kept me from receiving the best Jesus Christ died to give me.   Do I ever miss the old stuff?  No!  My life is far better and more exciting than ever.  God has amazing things planned for me and I cannot do it if I am so busy hanging onto the old!  Like Elsa says in the movie Frozen, "Let it go!"

Today I have chosen to let go of the old habits, the old baggage and the old friends that are keeping me from your best for me.  I chose to change for the better and look forward to the new and bright things that are headed my way.  Guide me as I continue on this journey in Jesus name I pray, amen!