Thursday, May 20

Psalm 1:4-5
Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For your prayer today, ask God to use his word to keep you from sin and evil – and to protect you with his righteousness.

Read:
Ephesians 4:17-24
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding, and are separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity with a continual lust for more.

You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

On of the television shows my family has enjoyed watching from time to time in recent years is “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” That’s the show where a family with a special story or need is identified and the crew moves in and totally rebuilds their home. Most often this process requires a complete tearing down or demolition of the old home before the new one can be built in its place.

That’s the idea behind Paul’s teaching here about the “old self” and the “new self.” When we come to faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit enters our hearts and begins a process that might be described as an “extreme makeover.” The “old us” –with distorted beliefs, selfishness, pride and sinful attitudes – must be torn down, demolished, thrown out, in order for the “new us” to be rebuilt – with new beliefs, new attitudes, and new behaviors.

This spiritual makeover is both an instantaneous event and a process that takes years to be complete. It is instantaneous because the moment we open our hearts in surrender to faith, Christ enters in the person of the Holy Spirit and takes up residence in our lives – never to leave us. And it is also a process that takes years – if not the rest of our lives – to complete because we are sinful beings and need the continual mentoring and discipline of the Holy Spirit as we are slowly but surely shaped into the likeness of our Lord.

Take a few moments to think about how your heart, life and behaviors have changed since you came to know Jesus as Lord.

Then ask him if there are still a few rooms of your heart that need to be cleaned out and refurnished in him.

Invite Christ, through the Holy Spirit, to complete the extreme makeover he has already begun in your life!

Brian Coffey