Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

A few days ago, my husband and I returned from a getaway to the mountains in North Georgia. The weekend boasted a perfect blend of relaxing hikes, heart-warming experiences, and adrenaline-pumped moments. Can’t wait to tell you all about it over the next few weeks.

I came home to an unpleasant surprise—I discovered malware had infected my website.

This week I planned to write blogs inspired by our wonderful weekend. Instead, I spent hours troubleshooting and working with tech support.

After my husband and I discovered the extent of the problem, we decided that removing the infected files would probably not eradicate the infection. Because this malware poses a potential threat to my readers, I decided the best course of action was to wipe out the website and rebuild it from scratch.

It made me think about salvation.

As we move about in a self-centered world, we pick up infections like greed, lust, and materialism. When we want these eradicated, we may think the solution is to treat each problem separately. Volunteer and contribute to charities. Quit listening to music that promotes immorality. Become a minimalist.

But the core heart problem remains–sin separates us from God. Treating each symptom individually does not kill the central sin problem. Like my website, the corruption may not be easily visible, but its negative impact will grow and cause harm to myself and others.

God offers a solution.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:26-27 ESV)

[bctt tweet= “Salvation involves the removal of something old and the installation of something new.”] Salvation involves the removal of something old and the installation of something new. God removes our heart of stone—a heart without life that results in a life that resists God.

God replaces it with a heart of flesh—a living heart sensitive to God. This heart beats vibrantly and is pliant in God’s trustworthy hands.

[bctt tweet= “God doesn’t fix our sin problem by chipping away at our heart of stone. He obliterates it.”] God doesn’t fix our sin problem by chipping away at our heart of stone. He obliterates it.

As I began working on my website, I could have restored it from an old backup. The benefits included getting back your comments from old posts and my About Me pages. But then I decided a fresh start would be better in the long run. I’ve changed over the last three years, and so has the focus of my writing.

I grabbed a new theme and started building the website from scratch.

Please be patient as my site is now under construction. If I tried to keep all the old content and then add the new, the new would be obscured by the old. Therefore, I pruned, removing content that doesn’t contribute to my current priorities.

It reminded me of this picnic table we encountered during one of our hikes. The overgrown blackberry bushes surrounded it and even grew up through it. The table would have fulfilled its purpose much better if a caretaker pruned the brambles.

[bctt tweet=” Pruning promotes healthier growth and greater effectiveness.”] Pruning promotes healthier growth and greater effectiveness. Even though my heart of stone has been replaced with a heart of flesh, I continue to fight temptations. I should try to root them out whenever I identify them.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry… anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:5-10 ESV)

Ephesians 4:17-24 also encourages me to put off my “old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.” I am encouraged to put on the “new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

As I have removed the corruption from my website and given it an untainted core, may we allow God to remove the corruption from our lives and make us new from the inside out.

Join me over the next few weeks to hear about our North Georgia adventures.

Also, please let me know how I can make this site more beneficial to you.

What encourages or challenges you? What would you like to see me write about? I promise to read all your comments as I continue rebuilding the site.