"That, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed on the spirit of your mind and put on the new self which is the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." Ephesians 4:22-24
Christmas is just a week away and then comes the new year! I begin thinking of the new year early on in the fall. There is something about seeing the leaves turning brown and the days growing shorter that makes me yearn for New Year's Day. Who doesn't like a fresh start, a revival of spirit or a recovery of health? As I was thinking about renewal, refreshment, revival and recovery I chose to see what God's Word had to say about not only the new but also renew. I found that the word renew occurs about 17 times in the Scriptures. At the beginning of my study I wanted to only focus on what I thought were the "spiritual renewal" verses and disregard the verses that referred to skin or flesh being renewed. But a cross reference led me to the intriguing story of Naaman who was a captain of the army under the king of Aram. (2 Kings 5) He was a valiant soldier and highly respected, but he had leprosy, a disease of the skin. There was no cure for leprosy, but a woman servant of his wife told him of someone who could heal him, a prophet in Samaria. To make a long story short, Naaman was led to Elisha who had him dip himself seven times in the Jordan and as it says in 2 Kings 5:14, "his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean." The Lord, through Elisha, restored Naaman's skin to that of his youth. Are there any other women out there, besides me, who wouldn't take a dip in the Jordan to have the skin of a child again?
God's renewal power is seen daily by just looking at our skin. What we see when we look at our skin is really dead skin. The epidermis is the outer layer of skin that we can see. But below the surface at the bottom of the epidermis new skin cells are forming. As the new skin cells form they begin to move their way to the surface and when they arrive at the surface they are old and tough and eventually die and flake off from the surface. According to Kidshealth.org we lose 30,000 to 40,000 skin cells a day. But the good news is that new skin cells are always being formed and our old dry skin gives way to new skin on a regular continuous basis. As I was studying all about the renewal of skin I realized that God speaks to us about renewal everyday through how He created our skin. To renew means to be always in the process of changing and becoming new. The Lord created our skin to always be in the process of renewal. The renewal begins on the inside and works its way out, not only in our physical bodies, but also in our spirits. When Jesus died to save us and give us eternal life, He came to dwell in us through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is in the process of making us like Jesus. He is convicting us of things we need to get rid of, teaching us new lessons and equipping us to live with new attitudes. He is transforming us as he renews our spirits, souls and minds. He is renewing us from the inside out!
"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day." 2 Corinthians 4:16
"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature, the old things passed away: behold new things have come." 2 Corinthians 5:17
This Christmas I am asking for some new skin! I am ready to lay aside some of the old skin and put on the skin that looks a little more like Jesus. He came as a new baby to make a new way of peace with God and in the process he is making us new on Christmas Day as well as the 364 other days to follow. I am choosing to not lose heart as I look in the mirror and see wrinkled skin and gray roots on my head. Instead I am determined to look deeper into my spirit, soul and mind for what Christ wants to renew in me so that He can do even more new things through me in 2015.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Nancy
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