Valerie Rae Hanneman
Revelation 21:5(b) “..Behold, I make all things new..”
On this past Monday I was driving back from visiting a friend in Selma. I was in a hurry because this was the day that my daughter was going to pick up her brand-spanking new car, a 2005 Sunshine Yellow Aveo. I was going to take her to pick it up. She was so excited that I don’t think she had slept the night before!
As I was driving home I passed the “Pull-A-Part” junkyard and saw all the acres of old, junked cars. As I looked at them I realized that at one point in time there had been an excited someone who had drove each of those cars off the lot when they were brand-spanking new. Each of those cars had been a dream come true. But now, those dreams were finished and the car was in the junkyard.
Then I looked around my Impala. I remember when I bought it in 2000. I still remember the new car smell it had. Back then you wiped your shoes off before you got in my car. No eating in it, no drinking in it and I always parked in the north forty of any parking lot to protect it. But that was five years ago - and things have changed. One of the seatbelts is broken. The upholstery has the obvious signs that the ban of food and drinks was lifted, The body of the car - once so perfect - has scratches and dents in various places. It is still a great car - but not as great as it used to be. In a couple of years I will sell it and eventually it will end up in a junkyard with the rest of the cast off dreams.
That is the way of things on this earth. What is brand new today, somebody’s dream come true is beginning to wear out tomorrow and is junk the day after that. Computers, cars, boats, houses, football stadium, freeways, whatever. They all have varying shelf lives - but in the end they are junked, replaced, or torn down. And as we look out the window and see the dirty air that we breath we know that even this planet Earth is wearing out. But that is the way Father created it to be. This earth was not created to last. It has a shelf life - a day when Father will replace it with the new heaven and the new earth.
If we put our dreams, our hopes or our faith in things of earth then we are doomed to disappointment because they will all end up in the junkyard of broken dreams.
But there are things that will last forever. Eternal things. Heaven is forever. It is just as bright, sparkling and perfect today as it was 95 quadrillion years ago. And it will still be just as perfect 95 quadrillion years from today. - and 95 quadrillion years after that it will still be perfect. It will never wear out.
God is forever. I don’t have a problem understanding that God forever is and forever will be - but that part about Him forever has been - my poor finite mind has trouble understanding that. I guess I just can’t fully grasp that He never had a starting point. But that is okay. I don’t understand how a computer processes all that information so fast and connects me to the entire world but I know that it does do it. In the same way - I may not understand the absolute forever of God but I know that the absolute forever of God is true. And because God is absolutely forever, He is absolutely perfect. He does not change, He does not wear down, and He will never be replaced. In fact, in all of eternity, God has never had a new idea or a new thought. (Let your mind chew on that for awhile!)
My personal relationship with God is forever. It had a starting point - the day I accepted Him as my savior - but there is no ending of it. My relationship with Him will last as long as He does. I have His Word on it. He promised me that He will never leave me or forsake me - so He has promised to keep me forever. ( HALLELUJAH on that!)
Unfortunately, all to often, I treat my relationship with God as an earthly thing. (He NEVER does that to me - I do it to Him). I allow my relationship with Him to wear down and get tired. In fact, there was a 15 year period when I threw my relationship with Him into the junkyard as so much unwanted trash. Even though I junked our relationship, Father never did. And when I ran back to Him, He restored the newness, the excitement of our relationship. It was like having a new car. And I really took care of our relationship - for awhile. Then I got careless - oh, not on purpose - just with the passage of time. I was really busy so I wasn’t in the Word of God as much. I was working hard - so tired - so I cut down my personal time with Father so I could get some sleep. The troubles of this world put scratches and dents on my relationship. My relationship was wearing down and I didn’t even realize it. Then one day I whispered, “I don’t feel as close to You as I used to.” And Father answered, “I’m not the one who moved away. Take your eyes off of the earthly and put them on the Eternal. Set your priorities straight and come back to Me. I make all things new and I will make our relationship new again.” I did - and He did. And He always will.
When she got into her little car, Fawn set down the rules. No trash left in the car, no drinking anything but water, no food! And wipe your shoes before you get into it. I smiled because she sounded just like me when the Impala was new. But even as I smiled I knew that the day is coming when the car will get it’s first dent and it’s first stain. Because it is an earthly thing it will wear down - no matter how hard Fawn tries to keep it new. And someday, it will be over at Pull-A-Part junkyard.
Our relationship with God is not like that. Even though we treat it like it is an earthly thing and we let it wear down - it is eternal. It can be made new again. It can be recharged, renewed and restored. Just set your priorities straight and come back to Father. He makes all thing new - even us.
Father, I love being in this relationship with You. You are the Cornerstone and foundation of my life. But I admit that I let things come between us and our relationship wears down. Renew in me a clean heart, oh LORD. Help me to keep my eyes on You. You make all things new - make me new.
Contact Valerie or subscribe to the e-Ministry of Fresno First Baptist at valerie@fresnofirst.org
Posted by Valerie at July 15, 2005 07:57 PM