Clothespin Christians

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, Chapter 5, verse 17.

I know my comparison can’t come anywhere close to the impact this passage has on our lives as Christians.  In my second grade class I have a Good Choices Chart.  Those who are making good choices have their clothes pins in a particular area of the chart.  There is another area of the chart where students move their clothes pin if they make poor choices as a reminder for them to refocus.  I like to empower students so that they feel capable of turning things around.  I let them do things to help around the class to earn it off.  Afterwards, they can put their clothespin back in the good choices section.  Students start all over with their clothespins in the Good Choices section each and every day.
Well, Salvation is kind of like this chart.  When we are behaving in sinful ways and are caught up in a self-focused lifestyle, our clothespins would be in the poor choices section.  Sometimes God will have things happen in our lives, drawing our attention to our need to refocus.  Once we ask God for forgiveness and try to turn our lives around, we don’t have to do something tangible to earn off the clothespin.  Jesus did that for us through His death and Resurrection!  We just need to do our best to continue to live as examples of how God works in our lives.  When we slip, just like the chart, everyday we have a fresh start as Clothespin Christians...thanks to Jesus.  God never gives up on us!

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.