I Moved The Silverware Drawer!!??

That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; Eph 4:22

At Christmas I received a gift from my sister, a brand new set of silverware and wow it was beautiful. It had just the right weight and design. I love that silverware. I decided since I had a new set I would put it in a new location. I took out all the old silverware and put it away. I moved the new silverware not into the drawer where the old silverware had been kept but into the one right next to it. I had new silverware and a new drawer to retrieve it from.

For the next few, ok not a few it's now been 6 months since I moved it and do you know I am just now going into the kitchen and reaching for the right drawer. Can you imagine it has taken me 6 months to retrain my mind, hands, and habit of reaching for that other drawer. Every time I prepared a meal. I would go to the old drawer first and then have to tell myself no its been moved its in the other drawer and then open the second drawer with the beautiful new silverware. There were so many days where I just wanted to give up and put the silverware back into the old drawer. My family begged and pleaded with me please move it back this is just to frustrating, but I stuck to my desire to keep it in the new drawer. Now without hesitation we all have began reaching for the new drawer.

That is the way it is with our old man. The ones we had before we accepted Christ. We had our old habits, our old way of talk, our old way of reacting to things, our old friends etc. Then came a day in our life where we heard the wooing of the Holy Spirit and we put away the old man and took on the new man, but there seemed to be a problem. Every day when we faced our trials, our situations, our friends we would reach for that old drawer and pull out that old reaction, habit, thought, or words. That old nature makes me want to reach for the things in the world to live my everyday life but the new man says no you have to retrain yourself to reach for that new man. You have to react with love not hate, you have to speak with grace and edification not judgment and condemnation. You have to walk in joy not despair, you have to live by faith not by sight. I have to choose to open that new drawer. I even have people tell me just do it the way you always did, they say why do you have to be so different, it's so frustrating seeing you struggle trying to live with this new man thing. It's a daily thing; I have to remind myself no Becky, reach for that new man, and remember you put away the old one.

As I have lived my life thank goodness I have had friends who along with me accepted the new man and are in this process of reaching for the new drawer daily. They encourage me that if I continue reaching for the new one that eventually without hesitation I will begin reacting from the new man.

The silverware even though it took me 6 months of continually struggling to remind myself, every meal, that’s three meals a day, 7days a week for 6 months, was easy compared to walking in the new nature. The new man is a daily 24 hour, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, lifelong choice. Our old nature does not want to die, we have to literally kill it daily, but if we continue to make the decision to reach it will not become 2nd nature but it will become our new nature. I dare you to move your silverware!