Do you find yourself ordering the exact same thing every time you go to your favorite restaurant? Would folks at church think you weren’t there, if you were not sitting in “your spot?” We truly are “creatures of habit.” Habits are hard to break. We don’t like change – but, why?
Last week, I came across a quote from Bill Bridges, the author of a book called Transitions, that really made me think. He said, “All change begins with an ending.” In order for something to change in our lives, we have to let something else go. In Philippians 4:13-14, Paul said, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” He realized that he was on the wrong path in life and a change was needed when he “saw the light” on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). Not only did it require courage on his part to make this drastic change, it also required conviction. Seeing the Lord, and then seeing nothing for three days was what it took to convince him to change the purpose of his life, and he never looked back.
Zaccheus, that “wee little man” who climbed in the sycamore tree to see Jesus, ended up with the great honor of having the Son of God dine with him that day. He was willing to change and declared, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold” (Luke 19:8b). We first read of a rich man named Nicodemus in John 3:1-21. This Pharisee, who was a ruler of the Jews, first came to Jesus by night. He didn’t want anyone to know that he was seeking Jesus. In John 7, he spoke up on Christ’s behalf, and in John 19, we see the complete change in this man who brought a mixture of aloes and myrrh, about one hundred pounds to anoint the body of Jesus as he helped take him from the cross. What a transformation occurred in this man, who was willing to change. Contrast him with the rich young ruler, who had kept the law since his youth. “Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions” (Mark 10:21-22). He wasn’t willing to go that far.
What about you? Are there some things that you need to change in your life? All change begins with an ending. You’ve got this. You are not alone, for ye are simply blessed, Courtney