A Fresh Start by Clint Davis

 

A Fresh Start

By Clint Davis

 

Jeff Walling tells the story from several years back when he was having some problems with his computer.   He had tried everything to get the problem resolved, but nothing worked so he had to call telephone tech support from the place where he bought the computer.  The person was very helpful, but after trying numerous fixes nothing worked.  And that is when the person said I think we are going to need to re-install your operating system.   Those are never the words you want to hear because that means you have to strip everything off the computer and start all over.  It is the only way to get a “fresh start”. 

At times, there are things that I don’t want to deal with that I must deal with in order to get a fresh start in my life.  Sometimes I want to just press a button.  I want to find the Staples “EASY” button to press and suddenly my problem is solved or my life will be different, but it does not work that way. 

From the start of creation, humanity started corrupting itself with the virus of SIN.  Our natural reaction when we do something wrong has not changed.  Our first reaction is to cover-up because we do not want someone to see the “real me”.  We want to hide it.  If we make a mistake or have an accident our reaction is to run away and hide. 

I remember several years back, Karen and I were getting ready to head out on a short vacation to Mexico.  We were in the airport terminal and my phone rang.   It was Chandelle.  She had been in a parking garage and hit a parked vehicle; actually she had ripped the bumper off the parked car.  She was not sure what to do.  I have to be completely honest and say that my first thought was to tell her to take off and not tell anyone.  But that was not the right thing to do.  We talked and I told her to leave a note to have the person give me a call so we could pay for the damage.  She did, and the person called me and we paid for the damage.

How do we get a fresh start when we have made a mess, when we have made a mistake, when we have sinned?

We have to realize, that we cannot fix it. Covering it up will not fix it and lying about it will not fix it.  Running away from it and rationalizing it will not fix it.  It can only be fixed by God.  In Jesus, God gave us a new beginning, a fresh install.  We just need the courage to accept it from Him.

I think it was Bob Herndon that gave an analogy that trying to cover up your sin is like being in a swimming pool with several balls where you are constantly trying to keep them all under water at the same time so they cannot be seen.  It can never last and you grow weary.

Psalm 32 describes a new beginning and fresh start for David.  It starts painfully….Blessed is the man in whose spirit there is no deceit.  The picture here is that a person has to carry around their deceit/ sin like a bag around their neck for all to see.  David tried to carry his deceit and not let it be known, and the passage says his bones wasted away from his groaning all day long.  Carrying the burden of his sin wore him out.  David kept trying to cover up his adultery with Bathsheba to the point that he literally committed murder for having Uriah purposefully killed in battle.  But God sent Nathan to convict him of his sin and David confessed his sin to the Lord and God “forgave the guilt of his sin”.  David tried something else; he acknowledged his sin to God and did not cover up his iniquity.

To have a fresh start today, have the courage to accept the gift of God’s grace.  God will forgive you and his grace will lead you to different life choices.

Stop running and lying and covering and hiding and say to the Lord this is who I am….please forgive me.

Titus 3: He saved us because of His mercy…He saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal of His Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Savior. He saved us because of His grace.