July 20/21 – Time for a change

“Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception” (Ephesians 4:22 NLT, second edition).

How many times have you overheard people saying, “I'm going to have a good time while I can – anyway, It's too late for me to change now!” Really, is there a cut-off line then? Or is it a case that making a change in our lives takes effort and their get up and go got up and went years ago!

Change requires making choices. It’s not enough to dream of changing. It’s not enough to desire change. In order for you to change, you will need to make a decision. You must choose to change. But if, over the years because of one reason or another, your self-esteem has fallen to zilch, change for you will have to be more intentional.

Do you have an ambition- a goal? Are you going to be any different in six months? Are you going to be better a year from now? Are you going to be healthier, stronger, and more mature? Are you going to be happier? Are you going to be less in debt? Are you going to be more like God wants you to be?

I can tell you the answer right now: It will only happen if you choose to change, because it isn’t going to happen accidentally. It requires a choice.

Much of the time we say we're waiting for the Lord to change us – in His time. No! God is waiting for you. He’s waiting for you to say, “Yes, Lord, I’m willing to make these changes.”

There's no growth without change, there's no change without loss, and there's no loss without pain. If you are going to grow, you will have to change, and change means you let go of some old things in order to grab hold of some new things.

It’s like swinging on a trapeze. The trapeze artist swings out on one bar, and then he has to reach out and grab the other one. At some point, he’s got to let go of one to grab on to the other, or he’s not going to make it to the other side. If he thinks he can hold on to both, what happens? He gets stuck in the middle, and he’s going down.

Some of us are well and truly stuck in the middle, attempting to keep a foot in both camps. But we have to let go of our old ways, our old patterns, old habits, and old ways of thinking, and keep our eyes firmly on our goal.

The Bible says, “Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life” (Ephesians 4:22a NLT, second edition). In other words, let it go. Those old habits, those old hurts, those old patterns, those old sins in your life — let them go. The Bible says to throw them off and trust that God is working in you “to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13b NIV).

(Acknowledgements fevr)

Music today is “"Change My Heart O God" - the Vineyard (with lyrics) to listen.