July 4, 2023
New Perspective
Recently I was driving down the road and a rock from a vehicle ahead of me flew up and hit my windshield. A small crack in the windshield soon began to grow. I called the insurance company and they hooked me up with one of the companies that comes to where you are and they put a new windshield in. They came to my location and were very efficient in replacing the windshield.
As they took out the old cracked windshield. It had squashed bugs on it and a few pine tar spots. It also has a layer of dust that had settled on it. As they put the new windshield in it looked so clean and pure. It had never been stained, scratched, or broken. It was like it was brand new from the showroom.
It reminded me of the experience of what the Bible calls being “Born Again” The old stained, marred life is made new with a new life. The Bible says that we are “new creations” with a fresh new perspective. The old life is thrown away and no longer an option. I don’t have the option to call the glass company and ask them to put the old broken windshield back in the truck. It is forgotten somewhere in a junk pile or landfill.
I know that the new windshield will get some new bugs and pine tar stains on it. It may even get cracked at some point but at least it will start out clean and pure. I could leave the truck in the garage and be guaranteed that it would stay clean and unmarred. But I would not get any use out of the truck. So, I have to use it and risk getting it messed up.
The good news is that when I do get a bug spot or dust on the windshield, I can either wash it myself or run it through the carwash. It doesn’t have to be replaced, just cleaned. If we sin after we are born again, we don’t have to be saved again. We can confess our sin (Stains) and God is faithful to cleanse us from all sin. He gives us a fresh, clean new start just like it never happened.
Hopefully we will learn from the pine tar spots and not intentionally park under a pine tree again. But as we go through life, we can’t always control the bugs that hit our windshield. All we can do is clean the mess and start over. If you get so far off track that your world is “rocked” and cracks appear. God is faithful to give you a new windshield (start)
In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs