The New Edition

Aqualyn Toi Jones

When was the last time you purchased or received something new? Maybe it was a cell phone, a car, or an outfit. It could've been a new pair of shoes, a job, or even a relationship.

There's just something about the newness of things. You value it more. You take better care of it. You can't wait to tell others about it. However, that eagerness doesn't last.

Simply think of all the old things you have acquired over the years. Soon, just like all the old "new things", the newer "new things" becomes a little boring. We settle down into the humdrum of business as usual. Now, it's just a cell phone, a car, or a pair of shoes. Our affection for it fades as we start to focus on the next new thing.

We can upgrade our phones, trade-in our relationships and change jobs when we're bored. We can just get the new edition. Unfortunately, this same mentality spills over into our lives with Christ.

Have you ever heard someone say?

"Before I was saved." or
"When I was still in sin."

If you're like me, you've said it yourself.
As Christians, we like to think of our lives in two categories: Before-Christ and After-Christ.

If you and I were to finish the sentences above, I'm sure we could fill a book. One of the best things about being a Christian is the new life we have in Christ. It trumps the old life every time.

Sometimes and somewhere along the way, we are tempted to exchange the new life in Christ for the old way of living. Life starts to happen again. It rains on your parade more than once. Things that you thought you wouldn't experience as a Christian seem to resurface after Christ!

How do you handle it when the old life threatens to choke the newness out of life in Christ? And what does this new life really mean anyway?

I love Merriam-Webster's definition of the word new. It means having recently come into existence. Is it possible that we never truly existed before coming to Christ? When you accept Christ in your life, you come into an existence that you never knew about.

You never really understood the measure of His sacrifice. You never had a Father like God. You didn't think it was possible for someone to know everything about you, and still love you. And yet, He does. You thought you were free, but liberation has taken on a totally different meaning. Life is not the same.

I want to challenge you (and myself) to remember that there is no new edition of the new life in Christ. There is nothing better. 2 Corinthians 5:17 reminds us that "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new."

This scripture doesn't simply say that anyone in Christ could or will be a new creation. It guarantees that he is. You and I are new in Him. The life we now live has greater understanding and subsequently, greater responsibility. We should never settle for anything routine in our relationship with God.

Every single day is new. Every single old thing is just that old. It's useless and ineffective. After all, it's called the old life for a reason and this edition is just fine.

Toi Jones is a writer and an advocate for youth, underdogs, and all things (and people) that are broken and overlooked. Compassionate at her core, Toi is also an educator, a mentor, and a supporter of multiple initiatives for South Africa. For more information about Toi, log onto www.bewrite-livewrite.typepad.com.