Tues., 9/16/14 Devotion (2 Cor. 5:17)

Today's encouragement comes from the familiar and lovely words of 2 Corin-thians 5:17, which say this:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have pass-ed away; behold, all things have become new."

Newness is a good thing. For the believing Christian churchman, all past sins are forgiven--covered by the blood of Jesus; and the present and the future are brighter (than the past). People outside of Jesus also want "newness," and they seek it all their lives. But they remain in their perpetual “oldness,” and "ancient" sins: the sin they shared in Adam; and the sins they have com-mitted along the paths of their unbelief.

Christians may need to suffer more than most people; but we also have a surpassing glory that more than compensates for it: and that is our blessed life in Jesus. Let us love Him today; and enjoy Him.

[Puritan quote of the day: "Happiness and rest are what all men pursue. But the things of the world, wherein most men seek it, can never afford it. They are laboring and spending themselves in vain." --Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon entitled, "The Peace which Christ Gives . . . "]