Closing Time

 Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.

I’m a sucker for 90s music, and this particular Semisonic track has been in my head a lot lately. I keep hearing it on the radio and my Pandora stations and each time this line sticks out to me. It’s a simple line, sung in a nonchalant way, but carries such meaning. Wherever there is a fresh, new start, there is also a death and an end.

Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I that lives, but Christ in me” (NLT). In order to live in the fullness of Christ, he had to let his former self be crucified and stripped away. He couldn’t be Saul any longer, he was now Paul. When Jacob wrestled with God, he was forever changed and from then on went by the name Israel. Before Jesus could bless us with his salvation, He had to be dead for three days. In each case, they had to stop  going in the direction they had been and start over - a new beginning, from some other beginning’s end.

Dear Jesus, help us to remember that in order for a new beginning to take hold, we must let things come to an end.