I have several friends who like me ask the Lord for billboards because we don’t always understand subtle messages. Last week my pastor sent out his morning text that said, “You can’t embrace the new when you hold tightly to the past. Release the past and embrace the new things God has for you!”

This is what the Lord said to the Israelites, “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Is 43:18-19)

This morning I saw a post another friend posted, “We are greatly influenced by who we hang around with, so choose wisely. Jesus was a friend to all, but was very intentional about His inner circle.” The Scripture he used is “He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed.” (Prov 13:20)

As Christ followers, we are not the same as we were before we came to Christ. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Cor 5:17) So we truly cannot embrace the new when we try to hold too tightly to the past. 

Since I made my post yesterday, I’ve been pondering one of the Scripture passages, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Heb 10:23-25)

What we’re encouraged to do is hold fast to our hope in Jesus as our Lord and Savior and spend time in God’s Word fellowshipping with other believers to stir each other up in love, and to stay away from those who stir up divisions (Rom 16:17). Instead we are to spend time with those who encourage us to go “boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16).

“God also bound Himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that He would never change His mind. So God has given both His promise and His oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to Him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.” (Heb 6:17-20)

Thank You, Lord, for putting all these messages together for me this morning. Altogether, they are truly the billboard I’ve asked for. You are faithful, and my hope is only in You. Thank You Jesus!