No Need for New: April 23rd Devotional

 

No Need For New

Malachi 3:6

April 23rd Devotional

      This day in history will always be remembered as a commercial flop for a major corporation.  Most of us are familiar with the Coca-Cola Company.  Their delicious brown fizzy drink has been around since 1886 and has become a staple of American culture.  Their red can is one of the most easily identifiable logos in the world and who can forget about the cute polar bears that helped popularize the drink each Christmas?  Coke has typically been a corporate juggernaut in the world. At one time Coke held over 60% of the soda market. By the early '80s, that number dwindled to around 20%. The Pepsi company was growing rapidly and the Coca-Cola company felt a need to do something to win its market share back. Coke decided to change its formula for making soda. That formula had not endured any major changes for nearly 100 years! They started Project Kansas to tweak the formula to something new and fresh.  They created taste tests and the evidence was overwhelming, the people liked the sweeter taste of the new Coca-Cola. Coke started a huge marketing campaign pouring millions of dollars into the new product. The only problem, the public did not like the new product and demanded that Coke revert to its old formula.  The company received thousands of calls daily from the outraged public. After 79 days and losing nearly 30 million dollars Coke changed back to its old formula. It was of such importance David Pryor, the Senator from Arkansas, said on the Senate floor that it was a meaningful moment in U.S. history.  It worked because Coke doubled its sales the following year and was Christened Classic Coca-Cola.

      Change.  That single word can cause multiple different emotional responses.  Some people love change, and others dread change.  Most Christians fall into the second category.  We think that change is bad, and sometimes it is, but typically change can be a good thing for us.  I like the change of high-speed internet versus dial-up or a modern car versus a model t, and I like indoor plumbing better than an outhouse. We change jobs, our life changes when go to college, get married, and become a parent.  To be honest we are living in a world where very little stays the same. The always-revolving door of change can create anxiety and worry in our hearts.  We are creatures of habit and when our routine changes we typically struggle. Life demands that we can’t steer through it on cruise control.  Good or bad change can be hard. But there is one who is constant and changeless. God. Malachi 3:6 says "For I the Lord do not change." God doesn't have to change.  Why not? To change means you were wrong, dated, inferior, or that something else was better. God does not need to change because He was, is, and always will be perfect. God doesn't need to change because He is perfectly loving, compassionate, just, graceful, merciful, and the list could go on and on. In a world where everything is constantly changing one constant is the Lord. Hebrews 13:8 says "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." His love for you never changes, His justice never changes, He does not change and we should rejoice in that!  When the turbulent changes of life rage against you, anchor your life to the changeless one, Jesus Christ.