Our family has recently added a new member. He has brown hair, four legs, and a tail. We call our new puppy Samson.
Samson is a ten-month old American Bulldog (mix). He’s a good pup and learning our way of life rather quickly.
But there are some things, you can tell, he just hasn’t been taught. Like how to walk on a leash. Or not bark at every animal in the backyard.
Sometimes I wonder how his old life must have been. Was he in his kennel most of the day?
Where did that scar come from? Why does he insist on eating out of the trash can and knocking it over? Did they actually feed him while they ate? (Because he seems to think we should.) Was he happy?
But none of that really matters now. He has a new life. A new home. A new family.
His name has been changed. The old is gone and the new is here.
You know why the old life doesn’t matter? Because we will teach him how to behave. How to NOT beg for food. How to walk on a leash. We will correct him when he barks at random things.
We will teach him, and he will learn.
Think about it, this is us with God.
Just like Samson, I had a life before I really began walking with God. I learned habits of the world. I lived for myself and did not learn any differently.
Then, when I was at my lowest, I looked up and embraced the love of my Heavenly Father. I got a new life with God.
My life began to change. (And sometimes while I was kicking a screaming, telling God I don’t want to.)
I didn’t know how to walk with God. But He already knew that. I didn’t know how to trust anyone but myself.
He knew He would have to teach me.
Teach me to learn more about Him by reading my Bible.
Teach me to recognize His prompting by putting people in my path to teach me.
Teach me how to let go.
Convict me. Change me. Teach me. Lead me. Show me the way.
Once I accepted the free gift of His son and began walking with Christ, I could not stay the same. I now have the Holy Spirit, that is a LIFE CHANGER!
Much like my dog cannot keep eating out of the trash can, I cannot keep going back to my bad habits that lead me away from Christ.
My husband and I will teach and mold our dog; but each one of us gets God, himself- in the form of the Holy Spirit, to mold us.
The Holy Spirit will lead us, guide us, convict us, change us, and put people and things in our paths to help our will align with God’s will.
It is our job to be teachable. Be moldable. Recognize that we are the clay, and He is the potter.
He is the tree; we are the branches. Apart from Him we can do nothing.
Once we start walking with Christ, our lives cannot be the same. God hates sin. Slowly he will start pruning you, revealing your sin, and helping you overcome it.
Be teachable. Be moldable. Live your new life in peace with God by your side.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
2 Corinthians 5:17