No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. – Matthew 9:16

No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. These words of Jesus in Matthew 9:16 are a powerful reminder that the old and the new do not always mix. Jesus is using the metaphor of a garment and a patch to illustrate the incompatibility of the old covenant and the new. The old covenant, with its rituals and regulations, was not capable of bringing people into a right relationship with God.

Jesus came to bring a new way, a way of grace and forgiveness, a way of love and redemption. And this new way cannot be simply patched onto the old. It requires a new garment, a new heart, a new spirit. As followers of Jesus, we are called to live in the new, to walk in the Spirit, to be guided by the principles of the kingdom of God.

So let us not try to patch the old with the new. Let us instead seek to live fully in the new, to embrace the freedom and the joy that comes from following Jesus. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to transform us, to give us new hearts and new spirits, and to empower us to live as children of the kingdom of God. May we be people who are characterized by the new, and may we bring glory to God as we live out our faith in Jesus Christ.