Change

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8, NIV)

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12, NIV)

My morning schedule changed today. Since it was Saturday, I got to the coffee pot first before my son. I like freshly ground coffee, he does not. Therefore we take turns. I changed my pyjamas to my street clothes. I changed my hair style for the sake of all humanity as bed head has yet to come into fashion. I changed my plans, instead of going to the library and then back home; I went to the library then stopped off at the brand new OSPCA for its open house. I may have changed my life as I took home a sign up sheet to volunteer there.

My grocery and electrical bill has changed dramatically since my daughter and son left for university and college. As well, the amount of time my husband and I have to spend together has changed for the better. The dinners I make have changed as I have to adjust them to accommodate less people.

Change is inevitable. Every day we make hundreds of different choices that change our life, some for the better, some not. It becomes so part of our lives that we barely give it a second thought.

Ironically enough, it is the same with the things we don’t want to change. We do the same things day after day, year after year without giving it much thought until suddenly someone comes along and questions why we are doing it.

I grew up in a traditional church. My grandparents and my parents had emigrated from Holland and naturally chose to go to a church that was most like the one that they grew up in. I, in turn was brought up surrounded by one ethnic culture, and went to a Christian school that was populated by the same ethnic culture.

When I left the comfort of all that for college I suddenly began to question everything I had thought was normal. The religion I was brought up with had many unspoken rules and regulations that just didn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense when confronted with different cultures and beliefs.

It has taken me over 30 years to sift through everything I was brought up with, trying to find the things that I need to keep and determining what is dross. It hasn’t been a pretty trip. There were some major mountains that I had to climb and some pretty low valleys that I got stuck in for a while. The one thing I’ve learned is that I am not alone in this journey, so many of us who are seeking the truth have helped me along the way.

Our church is changing. It has to or it will start to die. It isn’t easy to change the way you’ve worshiped for years so that the next generation will have a place to come to that feels like home. There is always the fear that we will change so much that the needs of the people outweigh the worship that God requires. Religion is a difficult thing to get over.

We dishonour God when we are so stuck in our traditions that we can’t see beyond them. Traditions can be beautiful things, uniting a group of people in worship. It is when we hold too tightly to them and refuse to change that they become something that no longer unifies but divides.

The one glorious constant that will never change is God’s word. When we allow the roots of our lives to sink in deep to it, we can have the faith and the courage to change.

As Christians we need to grow, more importantly, we need to grow together. We need to love one another deeply and be open and willing to change in the process. When we hold God’s word as our constant, branching out from there, the growth and change will be from Him, not us.

Jeanetta van Leeuwen is a member of WSPC who lives in Bracebridge. She loves to scrapbook, journal, and enjoy life with her husband and three children.