On the first day the students are eager to be back with their friends even if it means doing homework and studying for exams. By the end of the year the students are restless and unwilling to cooperate with teacher no matter how much she begs.

On the first day on the job the new employee is eager to learn from anyone who volunteers to offer assistance. After working for a few weeks the experienced employee refuses to accept guidance from anyone and resists any attempt to help with the latest project.

On the first day home from the hospital the chores of taking care of a new baby bring joy and fulfillment. After a month of going it alone, diapers and feedings and lack of sleep bring frustration and misery.

On the first day the couple enjoyed talking and listening and laughing and sharing the minute details of their day. A year later they hardly talk, have little desire to listen, have forgotten how to laugh and could not care less about the trivial details of the day.

Life can be like that. Days pass and the new wears off. We lose interest. We forget why we started. We take one another for granted. We cannot remember our original plan. Our dream fades. We get discouraged. We think about quitting.

We forget why we started.

There is one place where the new never wears off, where the adventure never ends, where the days are never routine, and life is never dull. The place? With Christ, where all things are new. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)

When we are in Christ, days don’t have to drag, work does not have to be misery, marriage does not have to grow stale, and caring for a loved one does not have to be a burden.

When we have an authentic relationship with Jesus, life is new all the time. Each day brings new adventures. Every trial provides an opportunity for the Lord to reveal His glory.

Life can drag sometimes. But it does not have to. When we develop a genuine relationship with Jesus, we can really live.

I hope this week you can really live to the fullest and enjoy the abundance that God has showered upon us.

 

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Title: "No Longer New?"
Author: Tom Norvell
Publication Date: July 16, 2006

Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot by Max Lucado In Cure for the Common Life, Max Lucado offers practical tools for exploring and identifying your own uniqueness, putting your strengths to work, and living in your "sweet spot" for the rest of your life.

Tom Norvell is the author of "A Norvell Note." He ministers at the East Brainerd Church of Christ in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

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