AN INSIDE JOB

“Why is it,” the little girl asked the botanist, “that when I open a marigold it dies, but when God opens it, it’s beautiful?”

“Because,” came the answer, “God works from the inside out, while you work from the outside in.”

What a beautiful description of the new birth. It’s not something that happens on the outside, but something God does on the inside that will eventually be seen on the outside.

A Christian becomes a completely new person. Although we cannot see the change on the inside, we know that there is a change when others see it on the outside – the new behaviors that come with the new birth. When Christ fills our heart on the inside, others will see it on the outside: we will no longer be the same and therefore do the same as we did in the past.

People often speak of “being rehabilitated.” This means that one has been restored to good health, a useful life, one’s former condition. But, that is not true of those of us who have been born again. We have, in and through Christ, been “recreated” – we become completely “new beings” or actually “new people!” “The old life is gone. A new life has begun,” said Paul.

When we are converted to faith in Christ, we do not turn over a new leaf.  We begin living a new life under a new Leader that results in a new way of living. Now we begin living a new life by a new set of standards – God’s standards. We must now ask, “Do others see Jesus in me?”

Prayer: Help us, Lord, to examine our lives carefully and completely to be sure we are living this “new life.” May we allow Your Holy Spirit to work within us to change us, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.

Scripture For Today:  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:11-19