The New Has Come
Hello friends and welcome back to the blog! I wasn’t planning on posting today, but this topic was laid on my heart, and so I decided to just roll with it! Today, we are going to be building off of what I talked about on my “start here” page with the Old and the New Covenants, what Scripture has to say about that, and what that means for us living in this world today! Let’s jump right in!
So, If you have not ventured over to my “start here” page, and even if you have, I want to give a little context and background for what I mean when I say the “Old Covenant” and the “New Covenant”. The Old Covenant refers to the way that things were in the Old Testament times of the Bible. This was the way of sacrificing animals to God as a gift or as atonement for sins that were committed. The way that we related to God was like that of creation to their Creator, as opposed to children to their Father (there is more detail on this over on the “start here” page…go check it out! It’s a lot, but I promise it is going to be worth your time!). The New Covenant was created when Jesus came to this earth, died as the final sacrifice for our sins, and then conquered death once and for all by rising from the dead and and walking out of His own tomb himself. That act was the thing that changed how we relate to God. We went from the relationship of creation to their Creator, to the relationship of children to their Father. What a beautiful thing! However, this was not the easiest to adjust to. Sacrificing animals to God was a massive part of how people lived their daily lives for hundreds and hundreds of years, and then after Jesus died and rose in three days… all of that is completely over. While it is such a happy blessing that Jesus came for us and totally changed the game for us and God, that doesn’t mean that it was the easiest thing to get adjusted to. People had to totally forsake the old way of doing things, in exchange for this new, more abstract kind of living with and having a relationship with Christ.
Does this sound at all familiar to you? It does to me, for sure. There are many things in life, whether that be graduating from high school or college and moving on with the next season of your life, or leaving behind a relationship that was not what the Lord had for you in exchange for the promise of the right one, where we are called to leave behind the old and enter into the new. And oftentimes, the new is much much much less certain than the old was, which is why we find it so hard to leave behind. Oftentimes the new is more confusing, and you just want to stay with what you know was so familiar. Trust me, I have been there a lot. I just graduated from high school this past May, and I have been wrestling with the thought of leaving behind what I have known for years and years. It is so hard. But, we see in the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the Old and New Covenants, that there is beauty in the new. If you are entering into a season of new things, and being called to walk out of the old, there are a few things I want you to know:
The old is not bad. This especially has to do with relationships. If you have been through a breakup or you realized that this person is not the one God has for you and you are being called to leave that behind in pursuit of something new, I want you to know that the old was not bad. Just because it is not what God has for you forever does not mean that it was bad. I challenge you to look back and see the ways that the relationship or experience grew you, or the things you learned from it, because, I PROMISE, you will find some pretty cool things. Ask the Lord to show you the ways in which the old was a blessing and helped get you to where you are today, because He wants to, and He will.
The new is not bad either. I have struggled with this one big time recently. In my mind, absolutely nothing can compare to my years at high school. It has been hard for me to look ahead to the newness of college with excitement because, honestly, it isn’t something that thrills me. However, the new is not bad. Just because it looks different from what you have previously known, whether the old was a great thing and now it’s just time for a new season, or the old wasn’t right for you and it’s time to move on, this new thing is not bad. It’s hard to leave behind what we are used to (good or bad). We equate familiarity with goodness, and therefore, we end up labelling things that are new and unknown as bad. I challenge you today to ask the Lord for the right perspective when it comes to looking at this new thing. Ask the Lord to give you His eyes.
You don’t have to know all about the new to step into it. Most times, the new thing that you are being called to isn’t as crystal clear as what you were previously in, and that can show up as a red flag to us, but it’s not. Don’t wait to step into it until you know everything about it, because then, trust me, you will not get anywhere. There are things that the Lord will show you in due time, but not right away. He has His reasons for that, so trust Him! Think about your relationship with God. You most certainly do not know everything there is to know about Him, yet you entered into communion with Him nonetheless. Let that be an example for how you are to tackle this new season, too. Be encouraged, as well, because one day - you will know all the details.
You are not alone in this. God is walking right beside you and guiding you onto this new path. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, so you can trust that His intentions towards you are good. I have had to keep on reminding myself that the God that led me to my high school with my best friends is the same God that is leading me to this college. He’s got you, and He is on your side.
Lord, thank you for the new. Thank you for calling me into a new season of opportunity and blessing. I pray that I would not be afraid to step into this because I know who goes before me. I pray that you would give me your eyes to see this new thing ahead of me the way you do. Thank you that the old is gone and the new has come. Please give me courage to take these next steps. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
