Devotion #3: Out With the Old
Have you ever seen a horse and buggy slowly moving alongside the road as you were driving? If so, I can assume you cruised right past them in your vehicle. I can also assume that at some point after noticing it, you thought, “I cannot imagine living and especially traveling like that.” How could that not come to mind when we consider all the technological advancements, such as cars, that we utilize in our society today? It just makes so much more sense to utilize all of these advancements, which are immense blessings to us in so many ways. Yet, we can often take them for granted until we see something that reminds us of how life used to be without them.
There is no denying why we in today’s world would choose a car over a horse and buggy in any given situation. Cars can move faster, which means less travel time. Cars have temperature controls and are enclosed forms of shelter, meaning that we can find comfort while traveling no matter what season and weather conditions we face (at least, outside of extreme cases). Some newer cars today also have advanced technology built within them, such as a Bluetooth system that can connect to our phones to enable us to make phone calls, listen to media, and use our map apps to help us navigate. All of this enables us to enjoy traveling, and because we are provided with so much ease and comfort with our vehicles today, why would we ever consider using the older method of transportation that provides nothing close to that experience? It would not make sense.
To travel today, we choose to use cars without even thinking about the options that existed beforehand. This is actually a great way to consider how we should view our lives when we have been made new in Christ.
In the first verse of Romans chapter 6, Paul asks us a very important question: “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” He is essentially asking that even while God’s saving grace surrounds us and is made available to us daily, should we still choose to live in sin? In verses two and three, he answers commandingly, “By no means!” He then poses another great question: “How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”
When I consider our methods of transportation, I think about Paul’s answer. In today’s society, we have advancements that enable us as humans to not be forced to the restrictions and bounds that nature brings as we travel. Back before all the automobile advancements we have today, weather and temperature would have played a major part in deciding when and to where you would travel. In a blizzard, would we dare to travel many miles one way for work or to get food or supplies? Of course not. With today’s vehicles, that is no longer an issue. We are able to easily and comfortably travel to where we would like, despite the distance and conditions that are at hand.
Paul continues his explanation in verse four as he states, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
If we find ourselves given the opportunity to walk in a new way of life every day that far surpasses the old life that we put to death through Jesus, why would we ever desire to continue living in that old way? So long as we call Him our Savior and believe in what He did, there is no comparison to the blessings, eternal promises, and salvation that come from the new life provided to us through Jesus.
In today’s modern world, there is absolutely no reason to consider traveling with a horse and buggy like everyone did ages ago. In the same way, there is absolutely no reason that we should consider or have a desire to continue to live in the old, sinful lifestyle that we have been blessed to have put to death through Jesus. Without a doubt, our new life in Christ far exceeds that old way of living. Because of Jesus, we can boldly say, “Out with the old, and in with the new.”