I was cleaning out a shelf in my garage when I found an old pair of tennis shoes. They were my favorite. My toes knew just where to go while my heels settled gently into their comfort zone. But they are worn and just don’t feel the same anymore. I should have thrown them away long before now, but I just can’t seem to separate myself from them. I eye them on the shelf from time to time. They are a reminder of a well fit from my past. I’ve had many shoes since, but none like that pair. I’m presented with this same issue in my life. I find myself torn between wanting to hold on to something that is from my old self, and yet on the verge of something new. I keep going back and forth with it in my mind and all the while God is saying to me, “Behold . . . I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19-20 AMP). So today must be my day, because I decided that it was time to make a clean break. I threw them in the trash while relishing the fact that my present shoes are on their way to the shelf and I’m going to purchase a new pair. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). I am reminded that old things, although deserving of once being useful in my life, need to be removed to make room for the new things that God has in store for me.
Hanging on to an old pair of shoes today? Maybe it’s a grudge, or bitterness towards someone. Maybe even a desire never realized. Whatever it is, recognize it for what it once was, and then toss it away as you take hold of God’s promise for a new thing! Don’t delay. You don’t want to miss out on anything NEW God has in store for you.