“This
means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new
person. The old life is gone; a new
life has begun” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT)!
“Let
go and let God!” I have heard most of my Christian life. It sounds
good, but how many of us allow our failures, pains, attitudes, and
even sins that were crucified with Christ to hold us back? Christ
calls us to let go of all the old that has defined who we are. As a
new creature in Christ I must let go of what I consider the security
of the boat. There is no security in the boat I have constructed.
There is no security in false hopes and dreams that offer nothing in
the end. That boat is subject to the waves and storms of life. That
boat can sink. But I will discover that when I let go of my
self-constructed identity, and step out into the depths of the
unknown in Christ, I will not sink into the depths of my own despair
but stand strongly on the rock of my salvation.
When
I “let go and let God”, I am so longer the child who failed at
sports, or math. I am no longer the person who could not quite get
things together, or a person who has been hurt because of teasing. I
am no longer someone who lets feelings of rejection, whether imagined
or real, define who I am. I am no longer one who needs the world to
approve of me. I have found my worth in Christ. When you “let go
and let God”, you are no longer a failure. You are no longer
subject to the pain of abuse or rejection. You are no longer ruled by
fear. You are no longer “not quite good enough”. All the old you
have been is washed away by the precious sacrifice of Christ. You are
a new person, and you have a new identity in Him!
In
the book, “The Shack” by William Young, Mack stands on the
end of a dock with Jesus, and stares at the surface of the lake.
Jesus asks Mack to take his hand, and step off the dock, but Mack
can't let go of the security of the dock. “So, why do I have so
much fear in my life?” he asks. Jesus' answer cuts to the core of
the issue. “Because you don't believe. You don't know that I love
you. The person who lives by his fear will not find freedom in my
love.” Oh, it is so true! We must not be afraid to step out of the
boat or off that dock! Fear will hold us in our own self-constructed
boat or clinging to what we perceive is safety! There is freedom from
all the past that has defined us when we let go and move forward into
the unknown in His love.
Each
day step out of the boat and discover your newness in Him again and
again. The old will fail you. The new in Christ will never fail.
Launch out into the depths of what has been your uncertainty. You
will find it the most certain thing you have ever done.
No comments:
Post a Comment