Bible Society of South Africa

Do you want a new life … or for someone else? – 1 August 2022

By Fanie Richter

Bible text(s)

5Then the one who sits on the throne said, “And now I make all things new!” He also said to me, “Write this, because these words are true and can be trusted.”

Revelation 21:5GNBOpen in Bible reader

18The LORD says, “Now, let's settle the matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool.

Isaiah 1:18GNBOpen in Bible reader

17Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. 18All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also.

2 Corinthians 5:17-18GNBOpen in Bible reader

Have you tried everything to get a kick out of life, and then felt, “So what!?” Here I sit again, the four walls around me and the silence are the same as usual. I feel as lonely and empty as before the party. And I am missing out on LIFE …

Or do you think of someone for whom you have “no hope”? In my youth, I knew André (pseudonym) – about 20 years old and “self-made” on the face of it, proud of his reckless life. I was just a friend to him and sometimes remembered him in my prayers.

About two years after changing jobs and moving, I ran into him at Johannesburg station one day – neatly dressed and friendly when he greeted me. And when he heard that I was going to study theology the following year, he grabbed my hand with a “Praise the LORD!” He then told me how the Lord had begun to renew his life after running into a group of Christians on his way somewhere. Amazing! The last thing I heard about him was that he lives for the Lord heart and soul.

God can and wants to do the same for you or the person you are thinking of, as he did for André – and also for me. Be still and pour out your heart before him.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please come and meet me (or the other person) and renew us, according to your will, so that we can experience your counsel, peace and love – according to your will and purpose with us. I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

Bible Society of South Africav.4.21.9
Find us on