HAVE YOU “PUT ON YOUR NEW SELF”?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
And have put on the new self, which is being renewed 
in knowledge in the image of its Creator.  
(Colossians 3:10)

MEDITATION:
Remember when you went to your first high school prom?
You probably dressed up much nicer than you ever had before.
And all of a sudden, you felt like a different person.
Why, because when you looked in the mirror, you looked like a new person.

That is exactly how we should feel 
whenever God saves us and guarantees our citizenship in Heaven.
We should experience a transition to someone we have never been before.
Our thoughts, attitudes, emotions, priorities, etc. should all be changed.

Why? Because we start a renewing process 
and our thoughts are now influenced by our Creator.
Our transformation accelerates 
as we increase our knowledge about God and His thoughts.
This will not happen if we do nothing 
and are lacking a total commitment to Him.
When we surrender to God, we should experience 
an increase in our desire to meet with other believers 
in corporate worship so we can learn more about Him.

A coed in a southern university seemed to be enjoying 
a satisfactory student career when her grades began to slip. 
“Life had become one long case of the blahs,” she confessed later. 
“I wasn’t walking around with a steady load of blues, but I wasn’t enjoying 
life. Small things made me blow up. I met some kids who seemed to know 
something I didn’t know, but I couldn’t get in on it. We went to several 
meetings, and one night the speaker said that we don’t earn God’s love. He 
takes us as we are. It was then I realized it wasn’t a matter of clocking up 
a certain number of hours doing good deeds. Instead, I had to make myself 
available. Through faith, I had to let Him take over. It came together all 
at once, when I accepted Christ as my personal Savior. I know that God is 
in me in everything I do. My life has taken on a new dimension.” 

ACTION:
Does your life have a new dimension? 
If not, do you want it to have one?

If you have not received salvation from the Lord, 
then talk to someone about what you need to do to be saved.
And be sure to ask them to include 
what God expects of those He saves and adopts into His family. 

If you have received God’s salvation, but haven’t noticed 
any real changes in your life, then what do you think is missing?
The scriptures do not lie, 
so when you are told that you have ‘put on a new self’
it means you should be experiencing significant changes in your life.
Your ‘new self’ should cause you to 
start realizing a new personal fulfillment, meaning and joy in your life.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your promises that I can become 
a new person who doesn’t have to wallow in the doldrums of life, 
but can experience new joys each day as a child of Your family. 
Thank You for Your assurance that as I ‘put on my new self’, I have 
an eternal home with You. Help me to embrace the changes in my 
life as Your adopted child, and to enjoy my relationship with You 
and other believers. Teach me to be sensitive to those who do not 
know You, and to be willing to let You use me in whatever capacity 
You choose.”

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