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New Years, Old Cars, and Faithful Promises

I grew up in a car family. We would eat, sleep, and breathe cars; talking about cars at the dinner table, dreaming about cars at night, and literally breathing the dust and paint fumes that constantly flowed from the body shop behind our house. Cars involve a lot of work, but the finished product can be very rewarding. Many cars entered our paint shop as old, dented, and often rusty pieces of junk. But on the day of their completion we would all stand outside the doors of the garage and listen as the car roared to life and slowly backed into the sunshine with fresh paint and shiny chrome glistening off every corner and smooth body surface. I can still close my eyes and smell the newness of the finished product.

What I remember most about those days in the body shop was my dad's ability to take what was damaged; worn by weather, owner abuse, and the effects of time - and restore it to its original state. The old became new right before our eyes in miracle like fashion.

It is no coincident that God puts this amazement in my heart and in the hearts of all mankind. Every year millions of people spend countless dollars on making themselves look new - new hair, new skin, face lifts, botox, etc. All because we want to be what we once were - new. God put this desire in us - I believe - so that we would get frustrated in our own efforts and look to Him for newness. And newness He will certainly bring about. One day, in the future, God will call His people from their graves and give them new life, new bodies, new health and all for eternity (Daniel 12:2).

It's a good time of year to remember that promise as we finish the first week of our New Year. Pray with me that this year God will work in our hearts to be satisfied in Him and the newness that only He can bring and not just the newness we try to provide for ourselves.

In Christ Jesus,
Pastor Mitch

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