“So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.” – 1 Corinthians 15:42
REFERENCE:
Times are rapidly changing. To be ahead of the change, form a mental picture of the new you, the kind of person you hope to be in marriage, business, ministry, career, health, etc. Change is a form of death; it is the old dying for the new to emerge, the cessation of a phase, and the inception of another. To benefit from a change, be ready to let the old go.
To ride on the waves of change, Paul used the analogies of death and sowing seeds to help us see change as a friend and a catalyst. Let us consider some things he said and learn:
1. Reckon Today as Mere Seed: that must enter the ground and die for the new you (the fruit) to emerge. No matter how much you like and celebrate today, let it go! Subject yourself, your style, processes, and business models to the death process. Because unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it abides alone, but when it dies, it bears much fruit.
2. Embrace the Death Process: It opens the door to possibilities and capabilities you never knew existed. Until you do away with how it has always been, you cannot embrace how it can also be. Paul said a seed sown must die before it quickens and springs up.
3. The Beauty of the New: emerges from the death of the old. The sprouting of a seed, like the resurrection, is a miracle. From the death of the seed comes the roots, the shoot, the stem, the branches, the leaves, the flowers, the fruits, and seeds, for another process of change.
4. The Body that is Sown/Buried: is not the body that shall be. It is sown in weakness but raised in strength, in corruption, but raised in incorruption, etc. The latter glory is greater than the former. God promises that what is coming will be better than what you let go.
So much is happening around us, disrupting how we have always done things. It signals that the old way is going and the new is coming. Let the old go because nothing will be as it was in the old season. In Nigeria today, the government is reducing the cash in circulation, thereby forcing people to use electronic money. I saw a bus conductor with a POS (payment) machine. That is embracing change. A day will come when all buses will have an e-Payment point in-built.
Crisis is a change accelerator; it forces us to do things we would otherwise not do quickly. It is the bedrock of innovation and ushers in new technologies. It will be ridiculous if all these changes occur around you, yet you remain the old you. Change is here; let the old go!
PHOTO QUOTE
ADDITIONAL STUDY:
John 12:24, II Corinthians 5:17, and Deuteronomy 33:25
REFLECTION
Change your methods but keep your values. As the world changes, it will offer opportunities for innovation, but depravity will also increase. Be sure what body you want to emerge on the other side of change. Don’t let change make you worse, but better. Victor Hugo said, “Change your opinions, but keep to your principles; change your leaves, but keep your roots intact.”
Old must die, old must pass away for the New.
I want New, I must have new.
My leaves may be changing, but my roots must remain intact.
Letting go of the old. Focusing on the new. Amen!