Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
forever. Psalm 23:6 NLTto take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, Ephesians 4:22 CSB
Old habits die hard ~ if they do at all. That’s largely the problem we have with those old companions ~ they don’t know when it’s time to leave!
And we all have had our own experiences with poor attempts at changing them ~ because we can’t seem to convince ourselves that we’re better off without them altogether. I think we would all agree that no minor adjustments satisfy the obvious need to simply let some some things go.
But let’s think about something for a moment: a habit is something that is chosen out of free will. That gnarly habit, whether it’s a routine or intentional practice, because we “rehearse” it on a regular basis, it becomes part of who we are. And we ignore all the signs and symptoms that tell us it’s destroying us.
These seemingly harmless patterns of “I can stop anytime I want to!” suddenly aren’t so easy to usher out the door. When people recognize our ugly annoying habits as being part of our personality, we’ve got major issues. And we don’t need to bring up how some habits have done some irreparable damage to our bodies, minds, spirits, and relationships.
Our lifestyle has been altered to accommodate these intruders. And we can’t shake them loose.
When Jesus walked the earth, He was all about turning around that doomsday thinking that had people convinced they could be no better. Sure, folks still struggled after an encounter with Him, but somehow Jesus gave them something greater to be able to face those oncoming days up ahead. He equipped them with Himself, His Holy Spirit.
That common fighting mindset that they could face anything along the journey because it certainly wasn’t going to be any worse than where they came from. They had encountered the living GOD and it changed them forever.
That’s what this praise song celebrates. Knowing where we were, how we were, and where we’d been and being blessed to live beyond it by GOD to do good moving forward. That’s a whole lot to celebrate!
Jesus not only changes the trajectory of your life, He changes you. THAT is the big deal.
While we’re wrestling with bad habits in our own human strength, the Son of GOD has already wrestled with eternal death and the debt of sin on our behalf. The harder work has been done. And we could not have done it ~ not by a stretch of the imagination.
So yes, we do have a reason to celebrate. And if you’re feeling left out because you don’t understand why these Christ followers are always dancing around, I suggest you ask one of them why they think there’s always a party going on, and become part of the celebration.
Honestly, we’re just in dressed rehearsal for the eternal party that will happen shortly …
I love you to Heaven and Back, Girlfriend ~
LindaRJohnson, TitusTwo Visionary
*Thank you to Jamie MacDonald for this.
