2 Corinthians 5:17, “ This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun” (NLT)

Old life, new life. The past couple of weeks Dale and I have been working outside. We have been cutting back some old life and making plans for some new life. A redesign of the exterior of our home. Nothing major, just taking out some trees and replacing them in the future with fruit trees. Recently Dale planted some berry bushes. Watching them grow and sprout into full growth is interesting. At times we wondered if they would make it. We wondered if the placement of the bushes was the right one. Will they get enough sun? Will they get too much sun?

As I began with this scripture, my mind was flooded with ideas about old life versus new life. Nicodemus wondered also when our Lord told him that he must be born again. I know I often rebelled at the thought of being a born-again Christian. I thought it was for weak people, or people who didn’t know who Jesus was. I was raised in church, I went to parochial school, I knew Jesus. I was a good person. That was all true, but for me, there came a point in my life that I knew I needed more. Once I became a born-again Christian, I discovered a whole new life for myself. The peace I experienced was different than everything else I had previously experienced. I understood what it meant for the old life to pass away and a new life beginning.

I didn’t expect as many changes that happened as result of becoming one of those Jesus people. I truly felt new. Although that was 45 years ago, I still feel like I am learning and growing. The excitement for life is vital to me. Yes, I have bad days and days that seem to linger forever, but, the basic part of me is so glad I discovered that new life.