The Weekly Word - A Devotion for the Week of January 4, 2021
“No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does. He will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old." (Luke 5:36)
It’s the New Year, and many of us have undoubtedly made a resolution (or a few!) to help us start 2021 off on the right foot. Maybe you’ve resolved to break a bad habit or drop a few pounds or drink more water. Perhaps you’ve vowed to exercise more, quit smoking or eat fewer treats.
There’s nothing wrong with making a New Year’s resolution or two, especially if outlining your goals will help you replace bad habits with better ones. But we would also do well, as we consider the new year, to remember Jesus’ words to his followers and to us. The truth is that true transformation requires more than good intentions. Real change goes beyond the surface and gets right to the heart of things.
It makes no sense to sew a silk patch over a hole in our jeans. That kind of temporary fix may work for a while, but it’s not a long-term solution. In other words, Jesus tells us, we can’t simply cover up a rough spot in ourselves or smooth over our transgressions with a well-intended resolution. Rather we need to let ourselves be entirely refashioned by God from the inside out.
True, lasting change starts on the inside when we answer yes to God’s promise to give us a new heart. When we let God change us in the deepest part of ourselves, we’ll see the effects of that change ripple out into every facet of our lives.
As we consider the year that awaits us, let us take this time of reflection to ask Jesus where and how our hearts need to change. And then let us invite Him to make us new.
Gracious God, thank You for showing me where I need to make deeper, more lasting changes in myself and in my life. Give me a new heart and a new spirit, Lord, so that I may come closer to the person You created me to be. Amen.