Newness. A word so prevalent in my mind.
It could be because of the new year or the fact that we've moved into a new house. I had the opportunity to sift and sort through the old and bring in some new.
Do you ever wish you could hold onto that “newness” feeling just a little bit longer?
Before the new stove top is splattered with grease? Before the corner of the new rug is chewed by the dog? Or before the dust begins to settle on all the newly cleaned furniture?
Before the milk begins to drop its nasty crusties in the bins of the refrigerator door, before the carpet shows signs of heavy traffic, and before the dishes get chipped and broken?
For me, it’s like the inward groaning Paul speaks about in Romans 8:23.
Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. (NIV)
My new favorite cleaning product is “Bar Keepers Friend.” (Maybe not the best product name for a Christian blogger!) I watched as it gently scrubbed our stainless steel sink into new life. And then I read of the other amazing feats it could accomplish - buffing out utensil marks on ceramic plates!
Nearly all our bowls and coffee mugs are white on the inside - although now they have taken on more of a gray hue. After many, many years of use, they are covered in what I thought were permanent scratches from the use of metal utensils. But, no! They are not permanent scratch marks. They are merely marks of residual metal.
Once I realized this, I pulled down the first bowl from the shelf and began scouring it with the Bar Keepers Friend magic powder. Within seconds, all the marks were gone, and the bowl looked as good as new!
I couldn’t help but think how nice it would be to apply this cleaning miracle to myself.
Gently buff out those aches and pains in my body, soul, and heart. Scrub away poor decisions and the shame they carry. Scour away the words spoken in anger or the tone used in irritation until the person they were aimed at can no longer remember them. (And possibly erase stretch marks and cellulite while I’m at it!)
My longing went back to newness of life and the dreams of what life will be like in eternity.
When the old things have gone away and the new things have come. When God places us on a new earth (Rev. 21:1) with a new body.
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
2 Corinthians 5:1-4 (NIV)
I used to consistently dream I was running without growing weary or struggling to catch my breath. This is a dream only God can bestow upon me in a new body no longer deteriorating under the weight of this earthly world.
Are you able to dream about this newness of life? To live on an earth free of sin and all the entanglements that go along with it?
I’m pretty sure my husband would dream about being capable of soaring high in the sky with an eagle’s eye-view.
Dwelling with all animals as tame pets would be my daughter’s perfect dream.
Please don’t get me wrong. I do not ask this question in order for us to pull away from this life and only dwell on what the future will hold.
We were created to live. Created to live with a hope beyond what this world offers us.
Will you join me in being open to dream God’s big dreams for us? To not limit ourselves to only dreaming about what we see? If we can do this, I believe we'll be able to share a much deeper and richer hope with the hurting and lost.
So, until the day my hands will no longer be dry, chapped, and peeling from scrubbing metal-tarnished dishes, I'm heading back to bring a little “newness of life” to my bowls and mugs - with a renewed sense of hope.
