Colossians 3:5-10 (NIV)

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Reflection:

As flowers start to bloom and windows are opened for the first time to chirping birds outside, many of us undergo an annual tradition of spring cleaning. This is when the newness of the nature outside is enough to finally inspire us to throw out the old and useless things that have accumulated along the way during the past year. As citizens of heaven, we also have been made completely new again. The old ways and habits of our earthly nature used to control us, but now they have no place in our lives. We are living by the Spirit of God and it’s time to get rid of the junk. Out with the old!

Responding to the Transmission:

Let’s thank God for the new lives in Christ that we now live and the incredible freedom from sin that we have. Let’s pray that God would show us the old ways of living that are so out of place in our lives now so that we can get rid of these things. May we continue to put on the new self, the redeemed self, as we are being renewed in the knowledge in the image of our Creator.