Presto Chango! – The New Ruth

As a young girl I can remember my mother, Ruth brushing her waist-long hair each evening until it shone! In the morning she would roll her hair into a bun and secure it to the back of her head with hair pins.

A few years later, she changed her hair style, by braiding and criss-crossing the braids on top of her head. My mother could easily be recognized by her tall braids.

One day she made a decision. It was hard for me to believe, but she decided to sell her beautiful hair and get a permanent! The change was dramatic. She was striking! Actually, the new cut and style was modern, and very becoming

The next Sunday at church I overheard someone say,

“Where is Ruth? Her children are here, but I don’t see Ruth anywhere!”

Of course, they were looking for the tall braids - the old Ruth. They did not realize that Ruth was there after all, but Ruth, as they knew her, was not. The old Ruth had been transformed into a “New Image.” She was now the “new Ruth!”

When we first accept Christ Jesus as our Lord, the reaction is often the same. Friends, at first, may not recognize the “new you.”

Quite often one’s speech and, even in a sense, one’s looks may change. You may smile more instead of frowning, and there may be an expression of peacefulness on your countenance.

Oh yes, be assured, you are still the same person on the outside, but the Bible tells us that you are now a new creation on the inside.

Our spirits are new, and the Bible instructs us that we have a part in all this. That part is to shun the worldly ways, to present our bodies to the Lord, and to renew our minds, by reading and studying God’s word.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove, what is that good and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzvB9JNcX74

You may enjoy this old rendition of David Ingles song by David Wyper