A New Lease on Life

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature, the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." 2 Corinthians 5:17

A few years ago I did a fun post on Morning Musings about all the heart-shaped objects in my home.  I included the above photo, but cropped it to only show the heart-shaped frames.  In the center of the rest of the photo is my youngest son who will be 31 soon--thanks to God giving him more time on this earth.  You see, he's been given a new lease on life because someone else died and through the organ donor program gave their heart to him.

We did not know he had heart problems until 5 years ago.  Since then his journey has been filled with clear and obvious signs of God's Hand every step of the way bringing him to this point in time.  But that is not what this post is about.  

When Ben received his new heart last Friday the words "a new lease on life" ran through my mind.  It is a familiar phrase you often hear after someone has a near-death experience or recovers from a health scare.  But this time the word "lease" stood out to me in a new way.  I realized every one is just leasing their life since no one really owns their life.  Temporal life is temporary.  We are spiritual beings and our life here on earth is a gift from God and as our Creator, it belongs to Him. In Ben's case he is getting a new lease on his life with this new heart.  Which brings me to the scripture I started with.

We are all new creatures when we receive the Holy Spirit.  We exchange our old life for a new one.  Ben exchanged his old heart for a new one.  When we receive Christ as our Savior we receive His life into us.  The evidence of our New Life is known as the fruit of the Spirit.  When we accept this New Life in Christ, we no longer need the old one because now we truly have all we need.  As an example, Ben's old heart was so enlarged that if the doctors had not removed it there would not have been room for the new one.  Yet, too often as new creatures in Christ, we cling to the old out of fear of the unknown, not entirely abandoning ourselves to Him, and thereby, getting in the way of fully experiencing what it means for Christ to abide in us.

Just as another man with my son's blood type and body size had to die in order for my son to live, God's son died, shedding His blood to cover mankind's sin, so that we could be made a pure vessel for His Spirit. Through him we've all been given a New Lease on Life--eternally!  

Father, You know the condition of my heart.  May my heart be so abandoned to You that its beat will be one with Yours.

Link to scripture:  Psalm 51:10

Take action:  How to abide in Christ.....