Isaiah IV
Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? (Isaiah 43:18,19 ESV)
Old Fashioned
I am old-fashioned. I prefer card catalogues in libraries. If I could use two tin cans with a wire, instead of my cell phone, I would. ChatGPT scares me, my smart TV intimidates me, and while GPS is useful, I still like to hold an actual map.
But life and time mean that things change.
It feels natural to me to cling to the old ways. I easily mistrust new, so called improvements. Being Amish would hold a certain appeal to me, except that I DO like buttons.
But in this key verse in Isaiah, God tells me that He does new things.
Specifically, God is announcing that the Messiah was NEW. But He implies more than that.
Rather than simply, blindly, and thoughtlessly clinging to the old ways, God announces that HE is the change agent of the universe. Yes, things change, but new things, really new things, we are encouraged to see that new things are ALSO under His authority.
Loving old things might be fine… but when I remember that God is beyond my time-constraints, beyond my knowledge, beyond my understanding… I can also embrace valuable and helpful and true new things when I encounter them. When they are valuable, helpful, and true.
New ideas about social justice perhaps. New ideas about economics, perhaps. New ideas about the Kingdom of God, perhaps.
New ideas about Grace: absolutely.