All Things New

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."

– Isaiah 43:19

It's often an uncertain economy. Sometimes it's a midlife crisis. But whatever the reason, special people from across America are reinventing their careers — and ultimately — who they are. In his book What Should I Do with the Rest of My Life? author Bruce Frankel introduces us to several remarkable individuals who turned their backs on the past to do something completely different. Thomas Dwyer, a 70-something former intelligence officer, joined a dance troupe. And then there's Deborah Jack, who left behind her two-decades-long career in financial publishing to go into business for herself with a Fetch! Pet Care franchise.

But one of the biggest change stories of all involves Fife Symington. Back in 1997, the former two-term governor of Arizona was convicted on seven counts of bank and wire fraud, and he was sentenced to 30 months in prison and five years of probation. A federal appeals court eventually overturned his convictions, and he received a presidential pardon. Nevertheless, Symington abandoned politics, graduated from culinary school, and became an accomplished pastry chef!

These success stories are nothing less than inspirational. But even so, many folks avoid new things — particularly as they get older. But big changes can reap even bigger rewards. And as the saying goes, people often don't see the light until they feel the heat.

You won't find any arguments about that in the Bible. In Genesis, we read that God told Abraham, who was an old man at the time, to leave his beloved country for a far-off land. And because he obeyed, Abraham became the father of Israel. Moses also had a midlife crisis that drastically altered his career path. Raised within the Egyptian royal family, he fled the country after killing a cruel taskmaster, and spent the next several decades in anonymity as a shepherd. But God never forgot Moses. And he used his unlikely servant to switch gears yet again. This time, it was for Moses' return to Egypt to tell Pharaoh — the world's most-powerful ruler — to set God's people free.

God may or may not call you to make drastic changes to your career or address. But he does call on every Christ-follower to make a profound spiritual change — one that lets us see through his eyes and take on his perspective. As Jesus puts it, we all must be born again.

The word-picture the apostle Paul paints through the book of Ephesians is that we must strip off the old self and put on the new, much like exchanging filthy rags for a beautiful new set of clothes. But how do we do that? It all begins by admitting that we're fatally flawed individuals who can do nothing on our own to save ourselves from the punishment we deserve. And the next step is to believe on Jesus Christ, the only One who can save us because he long ago paid our sin-debt in full. After all, we can never do enough or be good enough on our own merits to meet God’s standards for perfection. It's only through our faith in Jesus that we can become a new creation.

With 2023 winding down, the timing of this crucial truth is hardly coincidental. So, as we approach the New Year, let's do more than make half-hearted resolutions about changing for the better. Let's instead start 2024 with a better attitude ... and a new Spirit.