Scripture for Today:  Hebrews 3:13  “But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

We are having a terrible time with ice in our area.  It is making driving hazardous up the incline to our house.  The other day we got stuck, spinning our wheels in it.  Our neighbor very kindly helped us push the car.  Even walking is difficult.  We feel like we are ice skating!  Walking under the icicles can be lethal!

The snow is beautiful but the ice can be a killer.  The temperatures start to warm up and the surface begins to melt.  Then the temperatures drop and everything becomes hard and slippery.  Many meetings and events have been cancelled because of it.

Our verse for today is a warning.  The deceitfulness of sin can harden a heart.  The longer one denies wrong doing, the more difficult it is to hear His still small voice of conviction.  The more one indulges in a sinful behavior, the more likely it is that the heart becomes hardened and deceived.

When I listen to Him my heart is soft and open, like fresh powdery snow.  When I ignore His conviction, what was soft and melted becomes hard and defensive.  When I rationalize what I am doing, I deceive myself.  Sometimes I am not even aware of what I am doing, until the hardness of my heart makes me slip and fall!

There is an urgency in this verse.  Hardened hearts do not improve with time.  They only become harder.  Today is the day I need encouragement to obey.  Today is the day I need to encourage others to obey.  Lord, do not let me ever be hardened towards You.

Scripture for Today:  Colossians 3:9-10  “Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him –“

I love living in France and seeing the old next to the new.  Side by side the old looks older and the new looks newer.  Pictured here is the beautiful Louvre in Paris, built in the late 12th century.  But as you can see the Louvre’s newest addition, the pyramid, looks much more modern and new having been built in 1989.  For me the contrast is striking!

Our verse for today talks about the old and the new for the believer.  Although we are a new creature in Christ (II Cor. 5:17) the old self is still hanging around.  As long as we live on this earth in the flesh, we will always need the reminder in these verses to “lay aside” or “put off” that old self.

We have a new self.  Someday, the pyramid of the Louvre will begin to show signs of age.  One day, it will no longer look so new.  Already, the French press were talking about renovations needed at the occasion of its twenty-year celebration.  But our new spiritual selves are continually being renewed by Christ Himself though His Word.

Every time I lay aside that old self, I am cooperating with Christ’s renewal in me.  Every time I choose to obey Him rather than having my own way, He is bringing me closer to His image.

My prayer today is that I will clearly see the contrast between the old and the new in myself.  I pray that in my communion with Him, my new self will be renewed!