Brand new life (16 June)

My wife and I enjoy watching ’The Repair Shop’ on TV.  The Repair Shop is a place where highly skilled furniture restorers, horologists, metal workers, ceramicists, upholsterers and all manner of skilled craftsmen and women restore for people objects that hold a special place in their hearts.

It is wonderful to see the transformations of the objects, but it is even more wonderful to see the joy on the faces of those who brought the items to be repaired and receive them back like new.

In a similar way, Paul reminds us in our epistle reading this morning that when a person is joined to Christ, there is a transformation in them which makes new all that is damaged in a person’s being. When I was a children’s minister, I used to teach 2 Corinthians 5:17 as a memory verse using the Living Bible translation. I think that it expresses the truth of the verse well:

When someone becomes a Christian, they become a brand-new person inside. They are not the same anymore. A new life has begun!

How wonderful this truth is!

Grace and peace to you all.

Chris