2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Last year for me, was an absolutely amazing year! Not because everything in my life worked out just as I had pictured it, because it didn’t. There were bumps in the road, there were trials, and things that I had to recognize, were simply beyond my control. And conceding that we can not control everything single aspect of our lives, is a difficult one to admit. When we try to take control of our own destiny in life, sometimes we end up going the wrong way down a one way street. Or, we simply end up on a dead-end road, that leads to nowhere. We believe that if we take charge of our own lives, that everything will work out just as we planned it. Sometimes, we want something so badly in life, that we forget to consult God, and ask him for directions.

God wants what is best for us. He wants us to completely and fully surrender control of our lives to Him. That’s not always an easy task. But, when we look at our lives, how many times do we ultimately give up control, and allow others to lead? If we need surgery, when we go to the hospital we surrender control to the surgeon, because he knows how to best handle the situation. When we fly, ride a bus, or take a train, we also surrender control. If we are going to fully place our trust in God, then we have to know Him, and His nature, so that we can experience the love that He has for each of us. God is asking us to trust Him with our whole heart, and allow Him to lead us, because He has plans for us, and for our lives.  

When we submit total control of our heart, mind, and soul to God, He begins to reshape us, and mold us into a new creation. Out with the old, and in with the new. Let’s think of our ourselves as a caterpillar for just a moment. When a caterpillar is hatched into this world, they become little eating machines. They will eat lot’s of food, typically green leafs or vegetation. Caterpillars need to eat enough to grow up and shed their skin, much like a snake does. The caterpillar will repeat the eat and shed process a few times. One day, the caterpillar will stop eating, and find a leaf or branch to hang upside down from, and then spin itself a silky cocoon or molt into a shiny chrysalis. Within its protective casing, the caterpillar radically transforms its body, eventually emerging as a fully transformed butterfly or moth. Then it’s off to begin its new life.

Just as the caterpillar needs to eat to continue its growth, we also need to partake of the word of God and fellowship with Christ, in order for the power of Jesus to transform us into the new creation, He desires us to become. If we eat of the bread of Christ we will never huger or thirst. (John 6:35 NIV) Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

God has declared that He knows the plans He has for us. God loves us and has forgiven us, through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus. God’s arms are out stretched for us because of His love for us. Jesus desires us to have a relationship with Him, and to know Him and all He has done for each of us. God knew us long before we knew Him, as the Apostle Paul points out beautifully, in the early sentences of his letter to the people of Ephesus. (Ephesians 1:1-6 NIV) 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: ² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption to son-ship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…

God not only knows the plans He has for us, but knows each of us as well. It is by the grace, love, and mercy of God the Father, that He has chosen to send His Son into the world, so that we may know Him. Let us seek out and follow the Lord Jesus, placing him front and center in our lives. So that we may not only know Him, but live our lives for Him as well.