But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.
(Romans 7.6
NRSV)
The pastor dialed the number. A nineteen-year-old man answered and told his story. He had run away from home and had been wandering in a wasteland of drugs, drifting from one place to another, getting into all kinds of trouble and involved in all kinds of sordid behavior. The night before he had hit bottom. There had been a fight and an almost fatal beating. After making sure the victim of his assault would be all right in the emergency room of a nearby hospital, this young man came to the church, found an unlocked door, and went into the sanctuary. He stayed there all night, crying, and praying. He asked God to forgive him and show him the way to go. All at once the presence of God became real to him. He knew God was there. He felt God's forgiveness. A wonderful peace came over him. He committed himself to Jesus Christ. He was determined to make right the things he had messed up.
The young man felt fresh and clean, like a new person. To symbolize his new life and new commitment, he had put on some new clothes he had with him in his bedroll and had left his old clothes on the altar as a kind of offering, giving God his old life. He walked out the door a new person filled with a new hope, a new life, a new direction.
Dear God, fill me with new hope, new life and a new direction. Amen.