Patches

Daily Reading:  Mark 2

No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. (Mark 2.21)

Devotional Thought: Do you remember those iron-on patches used to repair clothing?  As a rough and tumble kid, I had  many pairs of jeans needing patched up.  We couldn't afford new ones as often as I tore up the old ones.  It didn't make sense to buy new ones anyway as I would just grow out of them in a few months!

Consider for a moment these two things: the old garment and the unshrunk cloth:

1.     Our lives are like the old garment.  Through constant use, we get worn out and torn up.  Not only so, but we are constantly growing.  Life doesn't stop changing!  And with change comes pain.  We are stretched and strained to the point of fraying.  But God has a repair patch for the wear and tear we  experience.

2.     But what about the unshrunk cloth?  Think about that as the new year.  God has 365 brand new days for us this year, but we need to get ready for them.  I can think of several things we can do to prepare our "old garments" for the "new patch":

·       Be made new in the attitude of our minds (Ephesians 4.23) so that you are ready to receive each new day, each new thing that God is doing.   

·       Pray that you would have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2.16) so that you can see things from his heavenly, eternal perspective. 

·       Resort daily to the Word and let it shape the attitude of your heart (Hebrews 4.12).  It has the power to change you!

A new year is here with all its possibility and potential.  Many changes will come your way.  Be ready by being made new!

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that you have given me this new year.  It is an unshrunk piece of cloth.  Help me, by your Spirit and Word, to prepare the old garment of my life for every new thing you will do this year.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: 2.1-6

1 Why do the nations rage    

and the peoples plot in vain?

2 The kings of the earth set themselves,    

and the rulers take counsel together,    

against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,

3 “Let us burst their bonds apart    

and cast away their cords from us.”

4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;    

the Lord holds them in derision.

5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,    

and terrify them in his fury, saying,

6 “As for me, I have set my King    

on Zion, my holy hill.”