| New Year... New You! January devotional ~ Colossians 3:5-12 Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe that 2012 is here, and with it, comes a new page in our lives, where we get to make a new beginning of sorts. The title of this devotional is something we see and hear quite a bit at this time of year: New Year… New You! But how often is it true or lasting? The changes we try to make on our own are rarely long term, but for those of us who have a growing relationship with the Lord, we have His power to make real, enduring transformations. Praise God! Not only is the ability available to us, but there is also an expectation that as children of the King, we will consistently walk in a way that is pleasing to Him and not be controlled by our sin nature.
In his letter to the Colossians, Paul shares that we are to set our hearts and minds on things above, and reminds us that our life is hidden in Christ (Col. 3:1-4). He then goes on to say: Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. … You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. … as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Col. 3:5-12)
We are called to a new life which consists of new ways of thinking and acting. When we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, II Corinthians 5:17 tells us that we became a new creation and that the old has gone, the new has come, but that is the beginning of a changed life, not the end. As we look ahead to the new year, may we ask our Lord to motivate and empower us to be the new creature He created us to be.
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. I John 1:5-7 |