Many of you know that my mom and grandma visited me this Thanksgiving. It was wonderful!

My mom got here a few days early and lovingly looked at me and said, “Honey, you have a lot of clutter. What do you think about doing some rearranging and paring down?” Now, at first, I was a little upset. I was proud of my apartment. It was clean and organized. It might be a little under-decorated, but for my first apartment, all on my own, I thought I was doing well!

Then, I started to look at my apartment with a fine-tooth comb and realized that more organization and some furniture moving would be good for me. My mom is definitely the lady for that job! A week later, I have some new furniture pieces and all of my furniture is in a different place, and I feel great! Every time I walk into my apartment, I think to myself, “now this is an adult apartment,” and I am thankful my mom said the hard thing.

As I reflected on this I thought about Jesus. I thought about how in Him, I am made new. A new creation has come and the old is gone. Paul tells us this in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians. He tells them “The old has gone, the new is here!” and what is most beautiful about that statement is that it is present. I don’t have to wait to become new. The moment I was baptized into the family of God, Jesus made me new. He continues to make me new each day! It is not based on how good I am at following or listening but newness is based in Christ. His sacrifice and His resurrection make me new!

What a glorious blessing! Sometimes that newness is rearranging priorities or cutting out things in our life that the Holy Spirit prompts us towards AND even when we fail, Christ makes us new! I pray you join me in rejoicing in our new lives in Jesus and thank goodness for moms who aren’t afraid to remind you that you can still grow, even in your decorating skills!

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Holy Week Services at Holy Cross Lutheran Church