Isaiah 65:17 “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered nor will they come to mind.”
I just received news that the chronic illness of a longtime friend is nearing its end. Her husband, Ken, reports that although Nancy is slipping away, the peace of God surrounds them. Both of them know that the cancer consuming her life has no power to block the new body that awaits her. New…
Isaiah tells us there is a lot of new coming our way. So much new that we won’t even remember the “former things.” In Chapter 65 he expounds on some of these things that will be forgotten:
- Untimely death: (v. 20) “Never again will there be in [his kingdom] an infant who lives but a few days or an old man who does not live out his years.”
- Unrewarded work: (v. 22) “No longer will they build houses and other live in them, or plant and others eat.”
- Unrealized legacies: (v.23) “They will not…bear children doomed to misfortune.”
- Unheard cries and unanswered prayer: (v.24) “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.”
Dark devastating events that cause sleepless nights, anguished tears and overwhelming distress—all vanish in the brilliance of the new. I think it’s a perspective God wants us to develop now. Today. I call it a view of the new…
With it we have the opportunity to receive new mercies every morning, no matter how badly we messed up the day before. We can walk in a new covenant that changes us from the inside out, or as my husband recently said, “it moves us from a relationship that consists of reading the manual to one where we are invited into the office.” Each day offers the option to sip new wine, sing new lyrics and think new thoughts.
So prepare for the new heavens and new earth. Don’t be glued to the present or the past. Have a new day!