Second Nature

New Years. Full of new beginnings, new commitment, new resolutions, and fresh starts. Physically it’s something as simple as flipping to a new page on our calendars. Though it seems to bring out much more internally. We get excited to try something new and make or break habits that should have been acted on long ago. And as we know all too well, this excitement seems to quickly lose its charm for most. We had the experience of trying but that was as far as we cared to go.

As a child, our brains are growing at such an incredible rate. As you watch toddlers they are inspired by anything and anyone they see. They are taking in and learning simply by watching. And the people they have their eye on most most are their parents. Think of when a baby begins to take its first steps. When they decide to take those steps they aren’t just “trying” a new thing. The only reason they begin to take that risk is because they’ve watched their parents and everyone else walk around them since they’ve been born. Of course they still need to develop their balance to be successful but there’s never a point that they stop trying. And the reason they don’t stop is because they aren’t focused on the first step of trying. They’ve already set their minds beyond that to something they know they can do everyday. It’s what they’ve seen everyone else do and they know it’s within themselves as well.

I don’t think life with God is ever fully experienced if we’re only “trying”. God has always looked for those who were willing to surrender everything. He’s always looked for the ones willing to get their priorities straight and act on His word above all else. That doesn’t sound like trying. That’s all in. That’s the only way we experience the life He has for us. When we are willing to see past the “trying just to see how things work out” we are aiming for what will become a way of life. That’s what God desires. That we would be entirely committed. That His word would be engrained into who we are. That following His lead wouldn’t be foreign but that it would be a response of a new person within us.
How do we get there? We do it by following in His footsteps. Just like a child carefully placing his steps into the footprints left by his Dad as they trudge through thick snow. Walking has become second nature for us all. This month, we aren’t seeking something new to try. We’re seeking a new life, surrendered to God’s call. We’re seeking a second nature.