Old Snake Skin

I have a snakeskin hanging over some deer horns in my living room. Some poor old snake is running around with no clothes on. No, really, the snake grew a new skin underneath and then shed the old skin. If he were to shed the old skin too soon, it might kill him; too late, it would hinder his growth.

There is a gospel song named “Take Off Those Rags, Lazarus”. It is popular,but not scriptural. Lazarus couldn’t take off his own grave clothes. His hands and feet were bound. When Jesus called Lazarus forth from the dead, He told the people standing nearby, “Loose him and let him go.” John 11:44.

When you were born again, you came forth, spiritually speaking, from the grave, bound in grave clothes. But you didn’t have the ability to take off your own grave clothes. Your spirit by the Holy Spirit was born again, but some things didn’t change–your eye color, your height, your disposition. Your mind was still the same, your prejudices, your thought patterns, your phobias, your way of thinking.

Romans 12:2 says “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” You have to renew your mind by the Word of God. That is why studying the Word of God is so important. When you read what God says in His word, you incorporate it into your thoughts. Then you are thinking what God thinks. You become what you think. The thoughts of God transform your mind.

As you learn God’s Word, as you grow in Him, the Holy Spirit removes your ‘grave clothes.’ He looses you. He takes off the chains that have bound you to your old habits and releases you to walk in newness of life. But it is a process.

Just like that snake shedding his skin, you will begin to shed some outer layers of behavior. Some former activities and associations will have to go. They will drop off by themselves when the time comes. When you are changed on the inside, it begins to affect the outside.

You’ll become just like Jesus. You will be changed from the inside out.