“Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
1 Peter 2:10 NIV
ONCE upon a time…is a great way to begin the life story of a follower of Jesus. All of us can relate to bad early life circumstances such as the story of Cinderella whose life was filled with so much turmoil while living under the rule of a wicked step-mother. Children and adults love the Once upon a time stories because a they know that a wonderful transformation is going to happen.
We, also, can relate to bad things in our lives. Sometimes stuff just happens to you – physical or sexual abuse, loss of a loved one, traumatic accident, dysfunctional family, or being the brunt of verbal abuse. Others may wish they only had a ONCE. Bad decisions have plagued you and left you with addictions and cycles of destructive behaviors.
Listen to Peter (his failures have been recorded for the whole world to see). We move away from the ONCE identification into the blessed hope of BUT NOW. ONCE we were not children of God, BUT NOW as many as believe on Him, you shall be called children of God. ONCE we did not know what true unconditional love was, BUT NOW we are saturated in His love.
Don’t get stuck with your ONCE moments. Don’t let those situations bind you to your past. Some hurts are so deep that you don’t feel that you can move forward in your life. BUT NOW in Jesus you can. The author and finisher of your faith is calling you forward to himself with arms open wide. Even though we walk in this world, our address has changed. This world is not our home any longer.
How many ONCE events can you recall that were true of your past life? BUT NOW you are living differently. Share with others your ONCE and BUT NOW, it creates hope for them.
Blessings Love y’all.