June 17 - Romans 8:6

“The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.”

One of the things the Bible assures us is part of a relationship with God is eternal life.  The other thing we discover as we read the New Testament is that Jesus Christ conquered death by rising to new life.  He offers us the hope of resurrection into the kingdom of God as well.  We no longer have to fear death, it is nothing more than a moment of transition from one thing to the next.

But, that’s the crux of it, isn't it!

We don’t like those transition moments.  No matter how bad things are at our old job, we hang in there until the pain level has reached far past what we should have tolerated, just because we don’t want to have to trust that a new job will be much better for us.  We learn to live with a certain level of emotional pain rather than make a change because we are so fearful of change.

What if it is worse than what we are living with right now?  What if it is just more of the same?

I’ve asked the question over and over again of people – how comfortable are you with change? Some people embrace it, knowing that new experiences whether good or bad will always bring about a benefit; if nothing other than learning more about yourself. But, for the most part, people dread change and avoid it at all costs. Only when it is thrust on them will they force themselves through and even then, they complain and whimper all along the path they walk.

There is nothing more difficult than dragging (encouraging … whatever) a group of people through change. As a conglomerate, the process is even more difficult because they vocalize their fears to each other and things become real in their minds.

But Jesus calls us to accept that death no longer has any hold on us, that a life of peace can be ours today and a life of eternal peace can be ours tomorrow.

I can accept that change in my life.