Ah! Isn’t it great to see the sun shining and feel temperatures in the 50’s again.  We’re just  weeks away from mowing grass (as if you needed that reminder)!  It’s good to have our ladies back from what I hear was a wonderful retreat in Williamsburg.  It seems to me they had way too much fun for a “religious” gathering.  And what’s with all this shopping?  Anyway, we’re glad they’re home.

Over the weekend I was flipping through the channels on my car radio and I came upon a catchy Randy Travis song that has been stuck in my  head ever since.  It was about a baptism service, in a creek on a hot July day.  The part that caught my attention was the chorus that said, “Down with the old man, up with the new.  Raised to walk in the ways of light and truth.”  Randy Travis sounds an awful  lot like the apostle Paul, who says in Romans 6: vs. 4; “For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism.  And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.” and vs. 6 “Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives.  We are no longer slaves to sin.”

Remarkably, once we come to Christ the result is change.  Old habits fall off and we begin to establish new ones.  This is one of the things we’ve been discussing in our “Growing Closer to God” series.  We need to “train ourselves to be godly”.  We do that by practicing these spiritual disciplines.  Sometimes the changes are dramatic, sometimes they are gradual, but hopefully we are all growing more like Christ.


Let me share a personal experience of how this change takes place.  No one has ever accused me of being a neat freak.  Just take a look at my office some Sunday.  My Mom tried to get me to pick up my clothes and clean up my room, but I could never see the point.  Why hang up a shirt if you’re going to wear it again the next day (or sometime in the foreseeable future)?  And why make up your bed if you’ve going to get right back in it the next evening?  And why put up the toothpaste back in the drawer if you’re going to use it again?

When Rosemary married me she knew she had a job on her hands.  She began her re-education program almost immediately.  She quickly introduced me to the smell of pine-sol and lemon pledge.  I developed the needed muscles to run a vacuum cleaner.  I have even received a certificate stating that I am qualified to clean toilets.  After nearly 35 years of marriage I have been thoroughly domesticated.  

But what happens when Rosemary goes away, as she did this past weekend?  Typically I revert back to my pre-Rosemary slovenly life-style.  I let the dishes pile up, I throw the dirty clothes in the corner and I leave the newspaper scattered all over the family room.  Then, on Sunday afternoon I straighten up just before she gets home.

But this weekend something strange happened.  I looked at those dishes stacked in the sink on Saturday and felt uncomfortable.  The clothes piled in the corner pricked my conscience. ( I actually washed a load)  And after I spent 10 minutes hunting for the remote control, I decided enough is enough.  I cleaned the place up—a day early!

As I reflected on this obvious behavioral change, my only explanation is that I’ve been exposed to a higher standard.  Isn’t that what happened to us as believers?  Isn’t that what Paul is saying in Romans?  Now that we know what real freedom is like, why go back to prison.  Now that we’ve tasted the good life, smelled that lemon fresh aroma of a clean heart and felt the joy of sins forgiven, we can’t go back to our old ways!  “In the past you were slaves to sin—sin controlled you.  But thank God, you fully changed the things you were taught.  You were made free from sin and now you are slaves to goodness.” (Romans 6: 17-18 NCV)

Suddenly we find ourselves wanting to do good… wanting to serve others … wanting to please our Master.   That’s the miracle of a grace-transformed heart.

Have a great week and keep on changing!
Pastor Barry

P. S.  Remember to set your clocks forward one hour this coming Saturday night!