Wednesday March 9th, 2016 Isaiah 43:16-21
I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? (verse 19)
Many of us know about new. There is always some new thing. Of course that new thing is advertised as the “best thing since sliced bread” (I do date myself here). Yet, how quickly such new things become old! Dumps and recycling bins are filled with things that not so long ago were new.
However, when God does something new, reshaping, transforming our minds and wills, both individually and collectively, new life begins to unfold. As God does something new, realities that heretofore were unimaginable emerge. Slaves are freed to explore their identity: God’s people. Oppressors’ grips are broken. Some of them even discover the freedom of love, forgiveness and the dignity of all.
Not that these new things that God is doing then and now don’t encounter resistance. Always there is resistance to the new life God wills both from within and without. Observe Moses, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela. Examine your own life.
But (here is the gospel!) such resistance from within or without does not, will not, cannot ultimately win. Because of God, there is a third day. God is doing a new thing! Are we perceiving it, joyfully part of it, or resisting it?
Your kingdom come, Lord, even among and through us. Amen. — TBL
Contributed by A New Thing
Many of us know about new. There is always some new thing. Of course that new thing is advertised as the "best thing since sliced bread" (I do date myself here). Yet, how quickly such new things become old! Dumps and recycling bins are filled with things that not so long ago were new.
However, when God does something new, reshaping, transforming our minds and wills, both individually and collectively, new life begins to unfold. As God does something new, realities that heretofore were unimaginable emerge. Slaves are freed to explore their identity: God's people. Oppressors' grips are broken. Some of them even discover the freedom of love, forgiveness and the dignity of all.
Not that these new things that God is doing then and now don't encounter resistance. Always there is resistance to the new life God wills both from within and without. Observe Moses, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela. Examine your own life.
But (here is the gospel!) such resistance from within or without does not, will not, cannot ultimately win. Because of God, there is a third day. God is doing a new thing! Are we perceiving it, joyfully part of it, or resisting it?
