New Beginnings. . .Old Ways

Over the past couple of days I have been thinking and thinking about how short my spiritual life has been, and yet how much the Lord has shown me and grown me already. I cannot believe it has only and yet already been almost two months! I have been reading through Ephesians, and in the later chapters of the book, Paul talks about the old man and the new man. We are commanded by Paul, in several of his epistles, to "put off the old man," and "put on the new man." This subject has always been a rather difficult one for me to grasp, and it continues to puzzle me. I know what it means to put something off, and I also know what it means to put something on. The key, I believe, is what Paul writes in between these two actions: "by the renewing of your minds." In order to put off anything and put on anything, there has to be a change of mind. We must renew our minds! I must renew MY mind! This is such a huge process for me, one in which I am still struggling to wrap my mind around, but I am continuing every day to learn more and more about what it means to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." Growth hurts, but turns out to be so worth it in the end. Growing and becoming more like Christ brings the most satisfying reward in this entire world: a more sanctified person. I cannot wait until the day when we will eventually be glorified and be just like our great God!