Old to New

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!

2 corinthians 5:17

About a year ago I went to this abandoned mansion in southern Virginia for a photography tour. I’m not a huge photography person, but I went for a friend’s birthday who enjoys photography as a hobby. What interested me the most was the age of the house. From what I can remember, the house was about 200 years old and was carried through many families. I’m sure it was a beautiful house in it’s prime, but walking in all we could see was the brokenness of the floors, doors, chipped painting, and so many things that needed to be replaced. At the same time there was something so beautiful of its age and history. It’s safe to say that people are not like houses. We can’t just replace the walls, be rebuilt, or reconstructed. Humans naturally age and with that our health declines. Yet at the same time even though physically it can be harder to keep up with our health, our spiritual and emotional health can always be revived.

In the verse 2 Corinthians 5:17, Apostle Paul is talking about becoming a new creation in Christ. What does becoming a new creation in Christ mean to you? For me, it means that I’m obligated to follow the Spirit rather than the flesh. It’s something that I think many Christians struggle with, much more than we’d like to admit. However, when I became I Christian the first thing that I felt was strength and peace because I knew that my life no longer felt dependent on my doings and what I could “manifest” now it was on faith in the Lord. Becoming a new creation has been an up and down walk consisting of me dying to my flesh and following the Spirit the best I can. I can say that although it’s been close to 7 years since I’ve accepted Christ, God is still working inside of me to change my heart and make it more like His everyday. Although my physical body is aging everyday (gracefully of course haha) my spiritual body is the one that is constantly being revived and renew making me into a different creation. I will never say that walking in the Spirit is easy because the flesh is so weak, but I will say that the more we focus on the Lord the better it gets and the more naturally you will want to follow God.

This physical old house was a beautiful home, and it’s amazing how it has stood for literally centuries, but we are not houses. Most humans will live till about 90 if we’re lucky, but God is more concerned with our hearts and spirits. As we believe and accept Jesus in our hearts he does the restoration process of making us new.

Thank you Lord for all you do. God bless you brothers and sisters in Christ.