In watching a sermon by 12 Stone’s Dave Ronne about 2
Corinthians 5:17 got me thinking:
Therefore if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new.
We are new and renewed in Jesus once we accept Jesus as a
savior, but is it that easy? For many I have seen, they are on fire right out
of the gate while others seem to struggle with it for years. I know for me it’s
been a 40 year process. Dave talked about this with the Backwards Bicycle that
has been made popular on YouTube.
The idea that “it’s just like riding a bike” is not always as it seems. He made
a small change to a bike, reversed how the handlebars worked, made it
impossible to ride. He then went on a quest to ride this bike and for 8 months
he tried every day until he got it. Something that should be easy became
impossible. He had to learn something new.
This teaches us that learning something new is not always
easy, so the idea is keep working at it. To change from a selfish, self-centered
being to a selfless, Jesus-centered one. In passion we can change in an
instant, but often we need to work on things.
I look at a family member, who was on fire for Jesus yet as
things unraveled and another heart transformation happened we found she was a
crook. She saved money because she stole everything we thought she brought. She
changed but it took a long time.
I look at a dear friend, who in one miraculous service was
ignited. He went from turning his back on God to preaching the word eloquently.
Then he slipped and that started a spiral down which changed his life and
relationships. He has come to a rest and is building again in Jesus.
Both instances learning to be a new creation in Jesus was
easy, but it was also easy to unlearn it. We tend to take a while to learn
solidly. As in the video it took 8 months to learn the new bicycle, it takes
time to learn anything new. Unfortunately, it also can easily unlearn the new.
With Destin, after 8 months he jumped on the old bicycle and it took 20 minutes
before he could ride it again. Where it took 8 months to learn something new,
it only took 20 minutes to unlearn it.
I am sure with Destin, he could learn to eventually do both
without a problem. But it shows us how we can easily unlearn the salvation
found in Jesus. The key is after 8 months of learning a new things, especially
if it’s away from Jesus, don’t jump back on the old bike and expect things to
be the same. Ask any preacher that failed in relationships or financial matters,
how easy it is to get back into the grove and preach. Two things I learned here
is how difficult it is to learn something new and how easy it is to revert back
to old ways.
So the key is stay in connection with Jesus. How do we do
this? First and easiest is a designated quiet time to pray. Next is connect with
a body of believers, be it a church or a small group of friends who meet regularly
to discuss Jesus (and not gossip). Finally and most difficult is read the Bible
daily. I say this because in 2008 I learned to read the Bible daily and since I
have read the entire NIV, ESV, NLT and The Voice. So 4 complete reads, yet
today my Bibles collect dust and rarely get lifted. I stopped to “rest” and now
I have stopped. So I learned one skills and quickly forgot it, keep watching to
see how long it takes to get back on the “bike”.