Tuesday, February 22, 2022
… seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:1b-3
A New Direction
Is it time to go a different direction in your life? Maybe you are feeling that something needs to change, and it is time. Maybe God has been calling you to go in a different direction and now you are ready. Beware - Satan loves to distract us with distraction and procrastination and keep us from going in the direction God is leading us. He does not want us to have a new life. He wants us to stay stuck in our old patterns of sin.
Jesus said, But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33 If we make God a priority in our lives and seek and desire the things of God, He will show us the direction we should go. When we know the direction we should go, we should set our minds on that direction and go!
One thing about going – we must leave the old person behind. Dragging the old person will only bring us down and keep us from successfully moving down our new path. The “old man” is normally referring to the sinful man in us that is put to death when we become Christians. It is hard to grasp and even harder to deal with, but the old man doesn’t go away completely because we are human. We fight the old man (sin) as long as we live in these earthly bodies and Satan is still alive and pulling on the strings to help make that happen. He knows our weakness and he will try to trip us up every time. If we give into the old man, we let him have control over us. Other things besides sin are a part of the old man in all of us – things like condemnation, fear, and powerlessness against the assaults of the enemy. All of that is gone when we become new in Christ because we are protected and covered by His law.
Even though the old man is dead, and we are new in Christ, we still must die to the old man daily. It is a daily ongoing battle, and we must stay sharp and on top of it so Satan cannot use our weaknesses against us. Our old sinful nature can still call out, “You must give in;” however, it now has neither power nor authority to back up its command. In Christ, believers can put to death every fleshly taunt and each sinful suggestion given to us by the old sin nature.
When you are ready to leave the behind the old and give up the sin you are caught in and don’t want to give up, then you are ready to go in a new direction. God has great plans of abundant life for all of us if we are willing to obey and go in the new direction He tells us to go.
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20
