Col 1:15-20 / Lk 5:33-39
Making do is a skill that life forces us to learn. Sometimes it’s sheer economic necessity: there’s no money. Sometimes other factors intervene to force us to make do with what we’ve got, in business, in friendships, in our very bodies. Making do is a useful skill that can save us from disaster or from a sense of total hopelessness, but sometimes it can be a curse. Because sometimes it can cause us to expect, and to settle for, far too little.
Nowhere does this happen more often than at the very core of our lives: the ways we’ve adapted to the world, our ways of thinking about ourselves and relating to others, all those daily little habits and limits we’ve come to take for granted. They may be stupid and even unpleasant, but we make do. We get used to the "ragged old coat," and even under pressure, the most we’re willing to do is "sew on a couple of elbow patches."
Jesus is warning us about just that kind of making do at the core of our lives. It will lead to no good. What He offers instead is the chance to "put on a whole new coat," to walk away from those old ways of thinking and seeing and acting which don’t serve us well, and to get a new life, which He will show us.
There’s always a risk in giving up something you HAVE in exchange for something you can’t quite see yet. It’s rather like the man on the trapeze, letting go of one swing in the hope that he can reach the next. There IS a risk, but do you really want to spend the rest of your life just making do? That’s not what God wants for you! He wants your life to be a masterpiece.
