the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Daily Devotionals
Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
I woke up somewhat early this morning even for me. I got up at 4:00 and went to my dresser and, in the dark, grabbed my underwear and my flannel pants and headed for the shower. It was interesting when I grabbed my underwear for I could tell by the feel of the fabrics that the T-shirt I was grabbing was one of my older ones while the briefs were some of the new ones I had just purchased recently. I knew which article of clothing was new and which one was old just by the way they felt.
New things have that certain sensation to them. Bob Wright, whom I've known for almost fifty years, was in these past few days from the west coast. Bob was the very first full-time minister of my home church in Jeffersonville, Ohio. His sister and brother-in-law live here in Georgetown, Kentucky which affords Bob a central point from which to visit his home area in Illinois as well as Jeffersonville. While here he drove a rental car. He drove a brand new Chrysler 300.
He and I spent the morning and early afternoon together and Bob let me drive. The feel and smell of a new car is a great experience to someone like me who likes that. Truth be told, if I could afford one, the 300 is what I would be driving right now. That new one was just incredible. The ride, the handling, the sensation of comfort; all there in that new car. There was just a little over fifteen hundred miles on it. Of course, as my Dad used to tell me time and time again, you take care of a car and they'll always have that feel. It didn't happen very often, but that is one place where Dad was wrong.
New is new. That feeling of something that has never been worn, never been driven, never been played, never been seen; it's new. If you could just hang onto that new car smell, that new shirt crispness or that new golf course freshness you'd have something. But a car soon takes on its new odors of different items it carries as well as the people and their scents. After a few washings a shirt loses that crispness and actually takes on a used appearance. A new golf course loses its wonder after a few times around it. What about life?
For those of you who want something to stay new, life in Christ is your answer. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Romans 12:1, 2 Every day that we present ourselves to God as His child we are renewed. Every day we are made fresh. Every day we take on that new Christian feel as we have a new day for Jesus to lead us through.
'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' Copyright 2010 © Tom Kelley. 'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' articles may be reproduced in whole under the following provisions: 1) A proper credit must be given to the author at the end of each story, along with their complete bio and a link to https://www.studylight.org/ 2) 'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' content may not be arranged or "mirrored" as a competitive online service.
