Not
Enough
By Tracy Smith
“Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old is gone, the new is
here!”
2 Corinthians 5:17
A
year ago, my youngest son came home from school with his glasses in two pieces.
Luckily, the arm broke off in such a way that I could superglue it back on and
he could still wear them - - temporarily.
We both knew this would not be a permanent fix; that the superglue would
not hold forever. In fact, I had to fix them two more times in the next week
before his new glasses were ready. The superglue was not enough, and would
never be enough, to fix those glasses.
The
permanent fix for the new glasses was to see the eye doctor for an updated
prescription, then see the optician to pick out frames and order new lenses. A
week later, he had new glasses and even clearer vision than before…how was he seeing with that old prescription?!
It’s
kind of like us and our human struggles to follow the rules, laws and
commandments that we see in the Bible; trying to bridge the gap that sin causes
between us and God. There are over 600 commandments in the Bible! I don’t know
about you, but there is no way that I, in my human frailty, could possibly
follow each and every one of those rules all of the time. Trying to do right
and follow the Lord’s commands is a good thing - - but it will never be enough.
That
is why the Lord sent His Son to become flesh and die for us so that we may have
eternal life (John 3:16). He knew that we as humans would never be able to do
it on our own. And when we make that
choice, 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that we are a new creation, the old is gone - -
we are new! No more temporary fixes. The
permanent fix and new vision are with us immediately; no wait required!
GOING
DEEPER
1.
Is there something in your life that you do as a “temporary fix” regarding your
relationship with Jesus? If so, will you talk to Him about trusting in Him
alone and His permanent fix?
FURTHER
READING
Along
with being a wife and mother to two boys, Tracy is an administrative assistant
at Oakwood, serves on the Women’s Ministry Special Events Team and leads a
great group of Junior High girls.
