New

Everything old is renewed in God’s hands.

How are new ideas born? Some things happen because a person faces an uncomfortable situation. There was a man named Arthur Fry who sang in a church choir. Every time he wanted to open his hymnal to the song he needed, his bookmark would fall down on the floor. It was annoying because he could not get to the page he needed in time. But Arthur came up with something that was much better than old bookmarks.

QUESTION: What do you think Mr. Fry did?

Mr. Fry determined to solve the problem and invent bookmarks which would not fall out of a book. He needed to invent something adhesive that would easily come off of pages, and then stick back, and without damaging the pages. To make bookmarks stick to pages, Arthur decided to saturate bookmark leaves with special glue that wouldn’t seep into the book paper. He brought the idea to the leadership of 3M, the company where he worked. They liked the idea, and he was given permission to use whatever resources he needed to have it implemented.
This how Post-It Notes, the yellow stickers, were invented. In 1980, they started to sell this new product in the USA, and later it conquered the entire world. Today the Post-It stickers are no longer a novelty; one can buy
them in nearly any stationery store.[1]

Post-In Notes, just like any other product, had their “novelty time.” As time passes, what was once new becomes commonplace. Friendship and love have their “novelty time” just as well. Romantic dates give way to boredom. Nothing in our world can be permanently new. But I said “nothing,” I didn’t say “no one.” God reveals Himself in the Bible as the God of novelty:

“The one sitting on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new!’ He said, ‘Write this: These words are trustworthy and true.’” (Revelation 21:5)

At the end of time the God of Novelty will renew our world completely. He will redo everything! But what is important for us today is that even now God can breathe new life into the old and the usual. He replaces old hearts with new
(see Ezekiel 36:26), He is able to renew one’s strength (Isaiah 40:31), He can breathe new life into a family where the parents have lost their love for each other (see Ephesians 5:25–28.)

PRAYER: Worship the God of Novelty who can make all things new and fix everything that has become old. Thank Him for giving us opportunities to renew our strength in Him.

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[1] Based on a story from the website stickprint.com.ua