"Made New"

There are people who don’t know it,

But they’re thinking is all wrong,

And that’s because the devil,

Has deceived them for so long.

And I’m a simple cowboy,

Don’t claim to be that wise,

But I will tell you something,

That should be no surprise,

That it’s not about intelligence,

Or how high your IQ,

Or how much education,

But where you take your cue.

No virtue in one’s ignorance,

No pride if one is smart,

But rather what’s important,

Runs deep within the heart.

And if you are willing,

To humble down your pride,

And admit you’re needing something,

Way down on the inside,

It’s there we need God’s healing,

With our behavior, too,

And there the Holy Spirit,

Brings what only He can do.

He gives to us a new heart,

Brings cleansing full and free,

In Christ a new creation,

And what God wants us to be.

And then He uses intellect,

Our learning, culture, too,

And all parts of identity,

To spread all that is true.

Sophisticates and simple,

And all those in between,

Are tools used for the Savior,

If He has washed them clean.

Filled with the Holy Spirit,

He’ll use a cowboy, too,

And that’s what I am praying,

With this poem He will do.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17, NIV)

Do we really believe people can change? Sometimes not. We hear it all the time: “they’ll never change.” And we’ve seen enough people who don’t, that we think it’s beyond possibility. But that’s not true. People can and do change, and the truth of this verse is the reason. No matter what they’ve done or left undone, they can be forgiven by God through Jesus Christ and transformed by His grace. That’s what make the good news so good, and no one is excluded from the promise. Does that mean they will? Nope. But they are unexcused because the offer is there, unconditionally and to all because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. We never give up hope because of His love.

Lord, use us to spread the good news that people can be changed by Your grace, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Mark Maggiori, markmaggiori.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Mark, and God bless you.