Now What?

Now What?

All of the presents have been opened, some have already been returned.  The decorations have lost a little of their luster.  Everyone seems to be moving a little slower, a little less animated not that Christmas has come and gone.  Now What?  What is left when we begin putting the decorations away, storing the leftover wrapping paper for next year, and taking down the mistletoe?  We even wrap our Baby Jesus from our nativity scene and place Him in a box for safekeeping.  I think we need to let Him spend the rest of the year snuggled away in our hearts.  We need to allow Christ to take up residence in our hearts so that our minds can stay focused on Him, and not on things of this world.  We are in need of renewal. 

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”  Psalm 51:10-11(NKJV)

We talk about resolutions, we fuss about how we want to look in the new year, we rant and rave at the latest craze when we have the obvious solution staring us in the face.  We don’t want this renewal, this new creation to take hold because it means losing our old self.  We try our best not to slip into this realm because we are too comfortable in our sinful existence.  We want nothing to do with becoming like Christ.  We fight these feelings because they would mean allowing Christ to take up residence in our heart.  But that’s what needs to happen if we are to become more like Him.

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”  Romans 12:2

The key phrase in this passage is “transformed by the renewing.”  We can be changed if we renew our minds, doing what is right, what is acceptable in the eyes of our God.  It’s just that simple, or is it?  We want to hang on to what we feel is right, what we know is acceptable to a world that seems to dictate our actions and control our minds.  It sounds easy enough, but actually going through this renewal, making this huge transformation can be extremely difficult because the world keeps pulling us back into the depths of sin.  We know what is right, we know what we should do, but our ego and the yearning to be accepted in our peer group is just too strong. 

The decision is all yours and yours alone.  You have everything you need to be transformed.  You have access to all the things you need to know in order to live a “Christ-like” life.  It’s not about becoming perfect.  God tells us that this is His long term goal.  It’s about making the effort to transform.  It’s about trying our best to have a new outlook, one that is acceptable to God, and not to the world.  We need to have pure and untainted aspirations, but it is tough to do this in a very tainted world. 

That’s why is so important to be “in the world, not of the world.”