A couple of years ago I was driving home from Melbourne late one night in my Ford Explorer. It had over 260,000 miles on it and this eerie glow flashed on the screen in my dashboard — “OIL CHANGE REQUIRED”. I was by myself and remember thinking that just like this old Ford Explorer, our lives need to be maintained also. Kind of like an oil change, sometimes our broken-down lives, our “old way of thinking”, needs to be replaced with that which is new. I realized that with Jesus……we have free oil changes for life!
2 Corinthians 5:17 (TNIV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
This is a great promise! However we need to get beyond belief and move toward following Christ in word and deed to fully realize this promise. That means letting His attitudes marinate inside us and wrestling with the application of these attitudes in our life. No matter what we’ve done in life, there’s a new life awaiting in Jesus. This means doing whatever it takes to change the oil!
So much like that oil change in our car, as we remove the old oil, as we repent of our sins, and pour in the new–a transformation takes place. The NEW oil flows through all parts of the engine. The whole engine is freshly lubricated. The old oil is gone as if it had never been there. It’s gone, hidden if you will.
Isaiah 43:25 (TNIV, God speaking through the prophet Isaiah)
“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
Colossians 3:3-4 (TNIV, Paul speaking)
For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
My prayer today is that as we wrestle to “change the oil” in our lives…..we will discover that in Christ…..the new oil is there and the old is gone. Follow Jesus and receive FREE oil changes for life!
