Pavlov’s Dogs
2 Corinthians 5:16,17 From this time on we don’t think of anyone as the world thinks of people. It is true that in the past we thought of Christ as the world thinks. But we don’t think that way now. When anyone is in Christ, it is a whole new world. The old things are gone; suddenly, everything is new!
Now, I’m not a betting man, but if I were, I would bet that there is some habit of yours that you’d like to change, if you could. But when it comes to those bad habits, those bad responses that we have in certain situations, man, they seem almost impossible to break, don’t they?
We all have routines in our lives. We call them habits – instinctive responses to certain triggers. Some are good. Others … well, not so much.
And those bad habits are hard to break. So what we need is the power to change, the power to break with the old and start with the new.
It’s amazing how conditioned we become to responding to certain situations, certain stimuli. Back in the 1890’s, a Russian scientist by the name of Ivan Petrovitch Pavlov was investigating the digestive system of dogs – not for everyone I guess, but hey, it’s a living.
Anyhow, he discovered that dogs tended to salivate before the food was actually delivered to their mouths. It’s called a conditional reflex. Our bad habits are, in fact, conditional reflexes. We know what’s coming so we react the way we’ve always reacted. That’s why bad habits are so difficult to break. That’s where Jesus comes in.
2 Corinthians 5:16,17 From this time on we don’t think of anyone as the world thinks of people. It is true that in the past we thought of Christ as the world thinks. But we don’t think that way now. When anyone is in Christ, it is a whole new world. The old things are gone; suddenly, everything is new!
There it is, right there – the power to break those old, bad habits! The trick is to stop thinking the old way because the moment you believe in Jesus, everything is new.
Believe that truth, live that truth, and your addiction to those old habits breaks down. Jesus … the power to change.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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