Next Step for Young People With ConvictionSample

Exchange 

Joy crept across Rachel's face as the doctor told her that the surgery went fine. Even though she could feel a soreness in her side, Rachel felt her life had been filled with a breath of fresh air. Before the kidney transplant, her life had been brought to a halt. 

Rachel thought of how far modern medicine has grown but still remembered that it was the kindness of a stranger who she had never met that gave her a new kidney. The whole process since her diagnosis a year ago had been a whirl wind—from radically changing her diet and her daily activities, to taking medicine and being on the kidney transplant waiting list not knowing if she would ever get one.

During her waiting period, Rachel did a lot of research because she wanted to know everything about kidneys. Kidney transplants were not a new process in medicine, but they were fascinating to her—how they not only took out a bad kidney, but put in a good one in its place.

Jesus taught this same value in Matthew 12:43-45. It's good to cast an evil spirit out of a man, but if something (or someone) better doesn't immediately move in to take its place, the evil spirit is likely to return with some friends. It's the same with our bad habits and false ideas. Obviously, the bad has to go, but getting rid of the negative things is only half the job. We not only need to get rid of the bad habits in our lives, but we also need to replace them with good habits. To be honest, sometimes we need to do this with bad friends as well.

Discussion: 

What things do you need to exchange or replace in your life?