Bringing in the New 

“You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new”
Leviticus 26:10 (NIVUK)

Most cultures have traditions surrounding the beginning of a new year.

An example is found above in relation to Israel’s agrarian society. Crops from the previous year had to sustain the people until the new ones came in (Leviticus 25:22), and, in the promised land of plenty, the new crops were so embarrassingly abundant that the old had to be discarded to make room for them.

In the New Testament the idea of replacing the old with the new became a base for metaphors about conversion. Think of such references as pouring new wine into old wineskins, sewing un-shrunk new cloth onto old garments, etc.. We don’t just carry on eating the old produce when the new crop is available in such abundance. Therefore, by analogy, it’s not sufficient just to stop doing all the old things that would link us to and keep us in the past—if we really want to change, we must begin to do new actions based on new thinking. Paul explained this in more detail in Galatians 5, saying that it’s not just a question of ceasing the old works of the flesh, but rather, let’s be filled to overflowing with the fruits of the Spirit.

Let’s continue in 2018 to cast out the habits of the old self and to bring in the new by walking in the Spirit. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Prayer
Eternal Father, thank you for your son, Jesus, whose Spirit changes us from our old ways into a new life in you. Help us in 2018 to overflow with the fruits of the Spirit. In Jesus’ name.
Amen 

Study by James Henderson

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About the Author:
James Henderson is the National Ministry Leader for Grace Communion International in the UK and Ireland.

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