New

I heard Jesus say to me, "I make all things new." He spoke it to my mind so clearly I could almost feel His breath on my face.

New. This idea of newness, we're always looking for it. Magazines are made to directly appeal to our desire for New. New clothes, new gear, new linens, new gadgets. All to soon become old. New packages. New bodies, new skin. New schedules, new jobs. New start. All to soon become old.

And what about love? There is a reason movies are made almost always around new love. We love to see the freshness, the nervousness, the wonder, the friction, the excitement of new love. We love to see the hero or heroine go through all odds, stay up all hours, sit in the rain and walk many hours, solely on the strength of the desire within new love.

Will love become old? I've seen it happen, for sure, and I don't mean old in the good, warm worn blanket way. I've seen it happen in the way that old means stale.

But it doesn't have to.

Matt and I have been married almost five years. When we were dating, we would walk hours and hours down the streets of Chicago. It didn't matter that it was the middle of the night and we both had exhausting days. We would walk until the sun came up. Now we both have life roles that challenge this sort of behavior, but that doesn't mean our love is old or stale. For love to retain its newness, what would this look like? The answer lies I believe in what Jesus said. "I make all things new." Jesus. What a promise. He said ALL things. That includes love.

Surrendering to Jesus. At first, it might not look like the answer we're looking for. It means serving someone else when you're really tired. It means refusing to be easily offended. It means overlooking some hurts or disappointments instead of hanging on like you deserve something. It means spending yourself. It means talking, always, in a gentle and sweet voice.

Isn't this the way we act when we are first falling in love? Sure, you say, but when you're falling in love you really feel like doing all of these things; you don't even have to try. To that I say, perhaps when we first fall in love, we get a taste of the divine nature in terms of how He loves; for not only does He love well, but He always feels like it and He never has to try. It is His very nature.

But as time goes on for man, his divine love feeling--that is wholeheartedly selfless, focused on the good, deeply compassionate, sacrificial and even heroic in action--begins to fade like the radiance upon Moses' face.

And as Moses veiled his face, we begin to veil our hearts. That's when things get stale.

But. But! Not so for those who abide in Christ, always open to Him, unveiled before Him. He's the Center, He's in charge. For those of us who love Him, we do things He asks whether we want to or not. Hopefully. And He asks us to love selflessly, all the time. And He says it's when you lose yourself that you really gain your life. He says it's when you seek to find yourself that you lose your life. And love, to keep it new, has to be given over to Him. And like the great Gardener that He is, He tills the heart so it then bears this luscious, satisfying, delicious fruit. And it is new every day.