Got Any Change?

When driving to work each morning, do you use the same route? Do you sit in the same seat when you go to church? Do you order the same meal each time you visit a restaurant? Are you going to the same Colorado cabin that you've been to ten times in the last ten years for this year's vacation? If you answered, "Yes" to these questions, you are probably the kind that walks around with an enigmatic expression whenever a major change happens!

"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse." Matthew 9:16 

We tend to find security in things that have been there for a long time. Even when they prove to be lacking, we would rather stick with them. Christ, however, breaks into this pattern of thinking and opens our eyes to a new paradigm: you can only patch a garment for so long. There comes a time when the garment must be thrown away because patching it will do more harm than good. For example, instead of changing churches, perhaps what needs to change is your perspective of what church is truly about; perhaps your relationship with Jesus news to be redefined from "religious activity" to the common thread that binds the tapestry of your life together; perhaps you need to change your attitude and actions toward your wife or husband. In the absence of such change, we cease to grow. Are there areas of your life that need an "extreme makeover?"

God's invitation says, "I'm doing a new thing! Come and be a part."

God, help me to open my mind and embrace the changes that you want to bring into my life. Amen.