Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
–Colossians 3:9-10
I heard about a Sunday school teacher who was teaching a class of seventh grade boys. He was teaching on creation one morning, and there was one boy who was cutting up quite a bit. So the teacher finally became irritated with him and asked the boy, “Who made you?”
The little boy replied, “God did!”
And that teacher said, “Well, you sure aren’t acting like it!”
So the little boy said, “Well, God ain’t finished with me yet!”
While that’s a funny story, there’s quite a bit of truth in it, isn’t there? If you and I are honest, neither of us lives perfect lives. That’s because while God is working in us to renew us in His image, He’s not done with us yet!
In Christ, you and I have put on our new self. The Scripture says that “our old self was crucified” with Christ (Romans 6:6). This was done so that the sin in our lives might be nullified and we’d no longer have to live under sin’s dominion.
But while we’re no longer slaves to sin, we still have a remnant of our old nature that stays behind in our flesh. And because of that, we live in a lifelong struggle as God renews us every day.
There will come a day when we’ll shed these earthly bodies and our struggle will be over. But until that day, remember that through every trial of sin, God ain’t finished with you yet!
WHILE YOU ARE A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST, SIN IS STILL A STRUGGLE. BUT REMEMBER THE PROMISE THAT, IN CHRIST, GOD IS RENEWING YOU INTO HIS IMAGE EVERY DAY!
