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Mom had twisty-tied the legs onto her pot. Christmas was Mom’s time to cook for the family. It was her joy and part of her Christmas gift to us, but when my brother and I walked into the kitchen, we saw her forty-year-old electric skillet leaning to one side. We were stunned. Gary picked up the pot, and I looked underneath to find the legs had broken and Mom had used bread ties to reattach them.

Outside of the obvious danger, when we confronted Mom, she insisted the pot was “just fine” fixed the way she’d jimmy-rigged it. Even after offering to buy her a new pot, Mom was content with the old one, and she had no plans of changing.

Paul spent a lot of time helping the Ephesians learn what it meant to shed their former ways of life. After all, this was what was corrupting them. They made efforts to change, but parts of the old ways were so ingrained in them that it was hard to imagine there could be a new way.

This was the battle Jesus fought. Time and time again, He went against the old law to teach the people there was a new way. The kingdom of God was at hand. Paul waged this battle as well. The plight to guide the people to a new attitude, a new way of looking at things, and an understanding that the Son of Man came for all was earth-shattering.

Even today, we struggle with taking off the old and putting on a new self. The old is comfortable, while the new is a little scratchy until we adjust, but the new holds so much more for us.

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions—Jesus made those for me when He took my sin on His shoulders and died for the new. Throw off the old and put on the new this New Year's Day. Make the change and see what God has in store for you. Start your New Year right by wearing the new. 

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and wilhei.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)