PrintGOOD NEWS OF A FRESH START
by Mike Robinson
It was the kind of shock he didn't need that morning.
Harold sat eating his breakfast, browsing through the obituary column and suddenly came upon his own name. He looked again in disbelief. But there it was with all the correct details. There was no mistake.
He was waiting on the doorstep of the newspaper office when the editor arrived and registered his protest in terms that were unmistakable and very colourful!
The editor was most apologetic and promised to correct the dreadful mistake. But Harold wasn't done. He continued his protest way beyond what was necessary.
The editor of the newspaper began to move from being genuinely apologetic to becoming quite miffed by Harold's over-reaction to the situation. 
After suffering Harold's verbal barrage beyond what was reasonable, the editor finally had enough. "Look," he said, "if you want, in tomorrow's edition I'll put your name in the birth column and you can make a whole new start in life!!"
Do you sometimes wish that somehow - short of dying - you could wipe your life's slate clean and begin all over again? Then I've got great news for you!
All the honest ones among us know that we have come short of what we have wanted to be and accomplish in life. That's not to mention what God intended us to be and accomplish.
When we ask God to come and clean up our lives and give us the gift of a new beginning, that's exactly what happens. The process is so radical and thorough that it is like beginning life all over again.
In fact, one of the ways that the Bible describes this experience of a new beginning is to call it "being born again".
Some people have faked their own death so that they can no longer be connected to their past. They have moved to a new area and assumed a new name with the hope of beginning a new life.
The death of Jesus Christ was real, not fake. However, His death was for us. Our debt to God can now be cancelled. The old life can be terminated. A whole new beginning is offered.
This is not a reformation - a patching up of the old life. It is a transformation - the beginning of a brand new life.
