You.

If anyone, is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come. Two corinthians five, verse 17. Do you ever wish that you could go back in time and undo something you did that you now regret? Maybe you would have studied harder to get better grades. Perhaps you wouldn't have gone to that party where you got into trouble. Maybe you would have chosen a different job or career path. Or maybe you would have been nicer to your brother or sister. It is said that Augustine was something less than a saint in his early years. He drank too much, partied too hard, and hung out with the wrong kind of people. But when he became a Christian, he became a changed man. An old girlfriend met Augustine on the street one day, but he walked past as though he hadn't even seen her. She called after him, but he didn't respond. Finally, she ran to him, stopped him, and said, augustine, remember me? It is I. To which Augustine simply answered, yes, but it is no longer I. Becoming a true follower of Jesus Christ makes a difference not only in what we do, but in who we are. Becoming a Christian doesn't undo things we've done in the past, but it does give us the opportunity to do things differently in the future. God is a God of second chances. Think about the woman who was about to be stoned to death for committing adultery. Go your way and leave your life of sin, Jesus told her. Think about Peter, who denied knowing Jesus not once but three times. Yet Jesus restored him and set him free of his past mistakes so that he could help give birth to the church. Think about Zacchaeus, a tax collector who, after meeting Jesus, refunded money he had wrongly taken from others and vowed to live a new life. From that moment on, people make mistakes, sometimes very costly mistakes. We can't undo what we have done, and we usually can't make up for what we've done. But we can be forgiven, and we can choose not to make those same mistakes that we made in the past. A new year allows us to turn the page on the past, to dream of better things and to do things differently so that we get better results in the year ahead than we had in the year that has passed. But it's not just turning the page of the calendar that makes the difference. The real difference is made when we surrender our lives to Christ, then follow and serve him. If anyone is in Christ, Paul wrote, he is a new creation. The old has gone. The new has come.

This has been your thought for the day with Steve Burkham, pastor of Community Christian Church in Stockton, California. If you have questions or comments for Pastor Steve, please send them to [email protected]. Have a great day, and we hope you'll join us tomorrow as Pastor Steve opens God's word to bring us another thought for the day.