II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

SCHOOL TIME

It’s that time of year when kids are getting all geared up for school, and I mean literally “geared up.” New backpacks, new notebooks, paper, pens, pencils, clothes, shoes, and ….you name it. New stuff galore! I use to love getting new stuff for school.

Do you remember the smells? I can still smell the clean pieces of paper, freshly sharpened pencils and strongly pungent plastic notebooks. I also use to get a new lunch box (back when they were metal and contained a small thermos) with my favorite cartoon hero or character on it. I wish I still had those. They are probably worth a fortune now. Lol

But look at today’s verse! We are all new in Christ! We all have that new smell! We are washed clean! And just like the new school supplies, ready to be used, so are we! We are ready to be used by Him. How does the Lord want to use you?

TEACHING MOMENT

As you prepare for your children’s new school how about talking with them about how prepared they are for Jesus? How about, when you give them the new paper and pencils, talking about how God wants to use them this year to reach a new friend for Christ? How about sharing with them how, just as a pencil needs to be sharp to be useful, they need to be sharp in God’s Word to be effective for the kingdom?

New stuff doesn’t stay new does it? But we are always new in Christ because of His regenerating power in us through the Holy Spirit. We never get old in Christ! We are fresh and useable, as long as we stay filled with the Spirit and let Him use us. Let Him this year! Do whatever He says! And stay sharp for Him!