“Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV)
On a large farm, located in central Indiana, there lived a man who had farmed the same acreage for over 20 years. His main piece of equipment was a very old tractor, one that lacked the power of the newer models that are available today. When plowing or tilling, his days on the tractor are long and his body is weary at the end of the day, following a lengthy time riding back and forth on the farmland.
One day, his loving wife looked out the large window in the genuine farmhouse kitchen. She was facing the field as she was preparing a good old-fashioned evening meal. Her sharp eyes could see the sweat sliding down the face of her spouse. She noticed that more than once, the tractor would stall. She saw her husband would get out and somehow, with a little jiggling here and some juggling there, he got the tractor to work again. Right then and there, she decided to purchase her husband a new tractor, one of the newer models with a bigger engine, one bursting with power, and one with amazing traction and a much-improved transmission. She had it delivered one day while he traveled to a town, about an hour away, to purchase some new tools. The old tractor was in its usual place in the barn. She had the new tractor placed right beside it.
At dinner she did not say anything at all about the tractor in the barn. Neither did she mention it before saying good night. Her plan was that he would discover the new tractor, ready to go when he went out to work in the field the next morning. That next day, after tidying up some things around the house, she went to the large kitchen window and looked out in the field. To her surprise, her husband was still driving the old tractor. She asked him, “Why didn’t you use the new tractor?” He had no good answer. He could only say, “I’m so used to the old one.” The farmer’s wife shifted, as you could tell by her tone, and speed of speech; she shifted to a take charge mode and said, “Man, you better use the new one! It will benefit you, me, and your productivity will be surprisingly better.” The farmer recognized her serious disposition and decided, wisely so, to let her know he would start using it right away! That’s a good ending to the story. Now let’s talk about your “Tractor in the Barn!”
Your “tractor in the barn” is an analogical phrase, representing all the new things you have been provided since you became a new creature in Christ Jesus! New things such as a new attitude, a new way of treating others, a new model (role model) to follow, a new love for the brothers and the sisters, a new set of principles to follow, a new concern about benefitting others, and let us just say, a “new” that is much better than the “old” one. So, let me be like the farmer’s wife and tell you, “You better use the new one!” Will you be like the farmer and choose to start using it today, forgetting the old? Have a great Thursday! Be blessed!
“Well then, shall we keep on sinning so that God can keep on showing us more and more kindness and forgiveness? Of course not! Should we keep on sinning when we don’t have to? For sin’s power over us was broken when we became Christians and were baptized to become a part of Jesus Christ; through his death the power of your sinful nature was shattered. Your old sin-loving nature was buried with him by baptism when he died; and when God the Father, with glorious power, brought him back to life again, you were given his wonderful new life to enjoy.” Romans 6:1-4 (The Living Bible)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King