All Things New

Around eleven years ago I purchased a used, older Ford Ranger pickup truck. I was generally happy with it; except for the paint. The paint was worn, faded, and scratched. No amount of wax could bring back the original shine so, one weekend, in an effort to make it look new; I decided to repaint the truck a darker color, and to save money and time, I would repaint the truck myself using spray paint.   

I took my time and carefully masked off the chrome, windows, and parts that I didn’t want to be painted. I then proceeded to paint the truck using cans of spray paint (not a spray gun); even though I knew that this was not the correct method to apply paint on an entire vehicle. Notice, I also didn’t take time to repair any dents, semi believing that if I painted it correctly, I could cover up the dents with paint. 

It looked almost like this when painted

Those of you who have attempted this already know what the results ended up to be. No matter how artistic I am, I simply couldn’t make the paint on the truck look new using spray paint from a can. My truck that had white paint that was worn, faded, and scratched now; I must admit, looked about the same or somewhat worse; except that it was now charcoal grey. I hadn’t followed the correct procedure to make the truck look new. 

Recently, I purchased a newer used Ford Ranger. Because the truck was covered with road grime, I had to take the seller’s word that the color of the truck was blue. One warm day, I took the truck to the car wash and discovered that not only was the truck indeed blue, but that the paint color had a shine the way that a truck is supposed to shine! I didn’t even need to apply wax. God had replaced my Ford Ranger with a new one. It was almost as though God had made all things new.

Thinking about that old truck, I realized that God has been working in my life the past eleven years to make me new in an area of my life. When I tried on my own to fix the problem, I failed miserably. It was only when I put this situation in my life into the hands of the Lord that the transformation was possible. 

God wasn’t asking me to do the repainting of my life; He was simply asking me to repent: To stop and go a different direction; to stop trying on my own to make my life brand new. This way He gets all the credit; I simply go along for the ride (pun intended).

God says in His Word (the Bible) that He will make us new when we come to Jesus. He doesn’t just spray over the dents in an attempt to cover up the damage. No, God takes away the old and makes new. God says; “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) 

God said that He will; “wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” 5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” 6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. (Revelation 21:4-6) 

So how does your life look at this moment? Is your life fresh and new and shiny? Or is your life covered with grime, and dents, and a body that no longer shines; no matter how much “wax” you apply to it. He wants you to stop, turn to Him and to let Him make things new.

God promises:

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” (Romans 10:9-13)

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"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."