Mark 10:50
And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.

We don’t have to be who we were before.  That’s the glory of finding newness in Christ.  All we had known before were the beggar’s garments that marked us as poor and helpless, and our hearts cried out for mercy.  But then Jesus comes, full of love and grace, and gives to us a robe of righteousness.  So may we cast off who we once were and discard the garment of shame and put on the pure white one that marks us as a forgiven child of God, the one that shows we’ve been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and so are whole in Him forever.

But maybe today there is something else we need to cast aside.  Maybe we’ve already accepted Jesus as our Savior and found new life in Him but have, somehow, remained wrapped up in some part of who we used to be.  Maybe it’s regret we’ve been unable to let go of.  Maybe there is unforgiveness somewhere in our hearts.  Maybe the grip of some addiction has clamped upon us.  Maybe we’ve brought along some favorite sin from our past.  Whatever it is, it’s not too late to cast it aside or, better yet, cast it at the feet of Jesus and ask Him to rid us of this stain that remains.

And once we’ve shed those weights, that oldness, that deadness, then we can move forward growing in Christ.  Then we can rise up out of the mire and place our feet on that rock and start building lives that matter for Him.  Without those hindrances, there is freedom.  Inside that newness, there is hope.  Along the road of life, there is peace.  And suddenly our lives are not about us anymore, and our focus is not on our needs and our wants, and our energy is not wasted on begging, but serving, not sitting, but following, going, doing.  And what a difference that makes.

And just one glimpse of our beautiful Savior compels us to follow Him, to serve Him, to give our lives to Him in sweet surrender.  And when we are new creatures in Christ, may we never fall back to the old, but ever pursue to be more and more like Him in more and more ways.  May we share His love with those around us.  May we minister with a servant’s heart.  May we show this broken world kindness and compassion.  And may we shine the light of Jesus into every dark corner so others may themselves go forth into new life in Him.