Perhaps you have at some point in your life noticed a sign bearing the word “Fresh!” Immediately we think of something that is better and healthier. Fresh fruits and vegetables have more nutrition because they haven’t had the nutrients cooked out of them or leached out through freezing/transportation. During the summer we get watermelons and cantaloupe “fresh” off the truck. I love eating fresh summer fruits. They are juicier and sweeter than the stuff usually found in the supermarket. Wouldn’t it be great if things were always fresh?
Unlike fresh fruits and vegetables that deteriorate over time, God is always fresh. Jeremiah wrote, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I hope in Him!’” (Lamentations 3:22-24). The faithful Christian is always fresh too as he permits God to renew his life every day. Paul wrote, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).
Why do some feel as if God has become stale? Is it God or something else? When people think that they have nothing left to learn, nothing to change in their lives, no more relationships to pursue, and nothing left to give, God becomes stale to them. This is not God’s fault, but theirs. It is a fundamental failure to practice the attitude of repentance. There is some way that every person can improve. Thinking that we do not need to improve, change, or serve others creates stagnation. A life of repentance, however, continually renews us and shows us that God is always fresh. How do you need to repent today?