Kaizen

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

I am blessed to be a Christian that happens to do Process Improvement. We often do focused, week long improvement events called Kaizens. Kaizen is a combo of two Japanese words - Kai which means change and Zen which means good. So Kaizen means change for the good or better.
This morning as we were winding up a kaizen week, this verse came to mind. When we make the decision to repent and trust Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, He starts a kaizen event in our lives. Having Christ as Lord of our lives and the Holy Spirit as our guide, God changes us for the better.
As you go into your weekend, think about if you need a kaizen in your own life. Why not trust Christ today?

When's Your Expiration Date?

With my job, there is a report I review monthly for the hospitals in our system that shows patients who have readmitted.  Part of that report shows where they went when they left the hospital - home, nursing home, etc.  One of the options, so to speak, is listed as "expired."  At first this bothered me; it felt very impersonal.  I thought, "We're people, not gallons of milk."  However, a couple weeks ago when I was working with the report again, this verse came to mind:

And as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment. Hebrews 9:27

 That got me digging and then I found this verse too:

Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth?  Job 7:1

It made me realize we DO have expiration dates.  God has our days numbered and knows exactly how many days we have on earth.  We don't know our expiration date, and that is why it is so important to heed the Holy Spirit's calling when we hear it.  He is calling to each of us to accept Christ.  Are we listening?  Are we heeding His call?

That verse in Hebrews describes what will happen to us.  We will reach our expiration date and then we will stand before judgment.  Not for our works or our own righteousness, for they are but filthy rags before the Lord. (Isaiah 64:6)  God will look for the blood of Christ to be applied to our life, and that's it.  That will determine where we spend eternity - with Him in Heaven or without Him in Hell.

As we wind up this holiday season with Christmas quickly approaching.  Think about that baby in the manger and what He really came for so many years ago.