New And Old Are Not The Same
Robert Schaetzle
“No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made,” (Mark 2:21 ESV).
How I remember growing up at the end of our nation’s Great Depression, witnessing my grandmother who took a piece of cloth from very old jeans to sew a patch onto another pair of jeans she figured had a few more miles left. Maybe some of you can remember? This pearl of wisdom given by our Lord as recorded in Mark 2:21 truly demonstrates the value and measure of becoming ‘new’ as a follower of Jesus.
Now I’m in my 80’s, having made my profession of faith in Christ at age 15 while in high school. Over the years, while living out my life’s experiences (through faith), I learned the truth and admonition our Lord presents here. I learned that living ‘my new life’ had to be through God’s preeminent power. I also learned that letting go of the past takes discipline—for everyone. Remember, yesterday is gone, tomorrow hasn’t arrived, but we have today.
Measuring goals through human reasoning guided by self, only results in a second-best life, lived for God. My new life in Christ has to be lived through the application of God’s Word through His Holy Spirit now living in me. This is combined with a daily digesting of His Word in order to discern godly values (Colossians 3:1-3) that are set apart from the ways of this imperfect world.
What will be tomorrow depends on my determination to become a doer of God’s word, instead of a follower of my own human reasoning (James 1:22-23). My ‘new creation’ must wear a new set of spiritual clothes for me to walk in Christ's overcoming victory in this world!
Father, thank you for helping me recognize old and new are not the same.
Robert lives in Sunnyvale, CA serving in a Sharing and Caring Ministry. Contact
