Out With The Old

So don’t remember (dwell on) what happened in earlier times. Don’t think about what happened a long time ago, because I am doing something new! Isaiah 43:18,19

We all go through periods of change, and we always know it will be for the better. Change is needed because we have built up habits over a period of time, and they are not good for our body, emotions, or spirit. In the quiet times we sometimes get in this busy world, the truth crashes in on us. We have been living in the past, and have not moved on.

Have you ever heard yourself saying, “It wasn’t like that when I was a child”, or “Those were the good old days and I wish they were back”, or maybe even, “I remember when the church was full, and there were great times of blessing.” I have, have you? But it never helps, does it? No never! The verse says it clearly. The prophet knew how we thought, even way back then, and it remains the same today. We long for the safety of the past.

If we are told not to dwell on the past, how do we help to shape the present, and therefore the future for our children and grandchildren?

I like the way the following verse catches the theme. The good times in the past were not related to the money we had, or the house we lived in, or the church we attended. It had everything to do with the heart of the people, and of the condition of our own heart. I suggest when we are tempted to think and dwell on the olden days, ask yourself about the state of your heart, and my heart too. Is our heart unfeeling, like a stone, or soft and responsive, like a living heart of flesh? May we all pray for the loss of our stony heart, to be replaced by a tender, human heart that Ezekiel talks about.

I will also put a new spirit in you to change your way of thinking. I will take out the heart of stone from your body and give you a tender, human heart. Ezekiel 36:26