Empty eggshells
I just came in from grocery shopping. Grocery shopping is not one of my favorite things to do, but what I love about grocery shopping is coming home with my bags and unloading them and replenishing my kitchen.
I know it may seem strange, but I get some sort of satisfaction out of refilling the soap dispenser, restocking the bread box and filling the sugar container to the top. But what about those things that cannot be refilled? Like eggs.
The sugar canister can be refilled and refilled and refilled. Never running out. But a carton of eggs is different. Once you use the last egg in the carton, the only way to refill the egg supply is to purchase a new carton of eggs. You can’t keep refilling the empty egg shell with more. It doesn’t work that way.
Sometimes there is nothing else we can do besides accepting that the old is gone and the new is what is best. An old, cracked, empty eggshell is not going to make scrambled eggs, but a fresh, new supply of eggs will do the trick.
In the book of Mark, there is a passage that speaks about this very thing. Laying aside the old and finding purpose in the new…
“And no one pours new wine into old wine skin’s. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wine skins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wine skins.” (Mark 2:22)
So many times I think we try to hang onto the old things in our life (sin, jealousy, pride, anger, selfishness) but when God pours His Living Water over us, we become like the old wineskin, it cannot contain it when we are still operating in our old ways. It will become useless and much like the used eggshells…we become not cracked up to what we could be.
If you allow the words of Mark to penetrate your heart, you will find that God’s fresh pouring will make us anew. The old will fall away. We will have no more use for the old habits, our old ways. When we come to Christ, we become a “new” creation. The old ways pass away. The old ways of thinking, the old ways of reacting, the old ways of how we spoke or acted are gone. A changed life will result from spending time with God, pursuing Him and His ways.
Pouring the new over the old may be good enough in your pantry, maybe in your sugar bowl, but spiritually speaking you have to get rid of those cracked eggs…you have to toss out the old and get restocked with the new. We must die to self and put on a new garment. Throw out the broken and replace it with beauty.
His love is fresh and new each day, but we have to seek Him daily to get restocked. Don’t settle for cracked eggs anymore…not when you can have a fresh anointing today.
You can visit my personal blog for more devotions over at http://womentakingastand.blogspot.com/
I am glad that I am not the only one who does not like to go shopping 🙂 .
You are right, Laurie; He gives us new life. I hope that I will reflect that in my life.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom this morning.
What a blessing it is to have new life in Christ!
Living for Him, Joan
Laurie,
Great illustration. I hate to go food shopping too, unless I bring my kids and then (oddly enough) I don’t mind at all!
You’re so right. If we are new creations in Him, we need to inhabit those new wineskins to be filled to overflowing.
Susan
What a great post! Thank you Laurie. I like this comparison of eggs to the wine skins.
God bless,
Bethany